NSFW Lawsuit Accuses Vince McMahon of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Assault

[VashTheStampede]

The Wall Street Journal reports that Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit against WWE, Vince McMahon, and John Laurinaitis in a Connecticut federal court on Thursday. The complaint states that Grant “was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE.” It added that Grant “is filing this lawsuit not just to address her own suffering, but also to act for those who are afraid to speak out.”

I will refrain from posting details because it's pretty graphic and I dunno how much of that is allowed on this site.

I was sadly expecting the rape allegations (not the first time for Vince) but not so much the fact that they would coerce women into sexual acts to convince talent to sign.

The fact that they gave Vince this loving send-off when he was made to originally step down, when they knew the details of what he was accused of is just disgusting.

 

[Spiner202]

I have read some of the detail - mostly whatever was reposted on Reddit. It is incredibly messed up. My hope is that he will be unable to avoid consequences now that he's relatively unimportant in the current structure of the company. Still, there's no way to "make right" or undo actions of this magnitude.

It will be interesting to see who knew what, if and when this all unravels. Based on what I have read, it would be wildly inappropriate for the WWE to allow Brock Lesnar to appear at the Royal Rumble this Saturday (as I presume was planned).

I mentioned in my rewatch thread that there's a certain level of dissonance that's required to appreciate the WWE. That is obviously still true, but it's becoming harder to ignore. I'm not really sure where to go from here. On the one hand, Vince has essentially no influence on the company any more, and I'm sure he'll be removed from his largely ceremonial position soon. On the other hand, we really don't know how widespread or deep this is. While I'd be surprised if those at the top knew every disturbing detail, I do imagine they knew enough to the point where overlooking this was very wrong.

 

[VashTheStampede]

I had been tempted into maybe watching the Rumble->Mania season like I sometimes do but this just turns me completely off.

 

[Crystal]

The details are disgusting, how any human being can think it's ok to treat another human being in that fashion...it's revolting. Not at all surprised Lesnar is involved, that poor poor woman.

 

[Jon]

Why do I remember hearing these accusations years ago?

 

[VashTheStampede]

Why do I remember hearing these accusations years ago?

Because it's at least the 3rd time there's been allegations along these lines.

First I can remember was Rita Chatterton, the first female referee, back in the 80s, accusing Vince of rape.

Then there were accusations of child trafficking that ended up getting ignored when the steroid trials kicked off.

The events of the current lawsuit took place in 2020-2021 I believe.

 

[VashTheStampede]

For the eventual "oh it was just Vince and he's gone now" defense they'll obviously take on.

 

[Mark]

I’ve seen the supposed screenshots of text message threads, and if those are what you’re referring to… as long as no one else objects, I don’t see a problem with them being posted as long as the thread is marked. This is gonna be a BIG story, especially considering how Vince has “narrowly escaped” controversy in the past.

 

[Crystal]

View attachment 7979

For the eventual "oh it was just Vince and he's gone now" defense they'll obviously take on.

Ugh, protect the predator

 

[Mark]

Ugh, protect the predator

Which is exactly why I wouldn’t object to the content being posted. If a victim is coming forward with her testimony, it should be heard.

 

[Crystal]

Which is exactly why I wouldn’t object to the content being posted. If a victim is coming forward with her testimony, it should be heard.

Oh absolutely agreed, it's an important story, the details are out there, no reason to hide them here

 

[VashTheStampede]

“In March 2020, McMahon began sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos of Ms. Grant (including pornographic content he recorded) with other men both inside and outside the company, including with members of the television production ‘tech’ team, executive(s), producer(s), and a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract (and ultimately did sign that contract).”

“As one example of McMahon’s extreme depravity, on May 9, 2020, he defecated on Ms. Grant during a threesome, and then commanded her to continue pleasuring his ‘friend’— with feces in her hair and running down her back—while McMahon went to the bathroom to shower off. Upon his return from the bathroom, McMahon and his ‘friend’ actively resumed the threesome, which lasted over an hour and a half, while Ms. Grant remained covered in McMahon’s filth. When McMahon’s ‘friend’ left, McMahon ordered her to stay and to continue to sexually gratify him.”

“In June 2021, McMahon and Defendant Laurinaitis sexually assaulted Ms. Grant inside Laurinaitis’ office in WWE headquarters while colleagues were busy at their desks. Behind a locked door, the two men cornered her and pulled her in between them, forcibly touched her, before ultimately putting her on top of a table in between them. She begged them to stop, but they forced themselves on her, each taking turns restraining her for the other, while saying ‘No means yes’ and ‘Take it, bitch.'”

“On June 23, 2021, around 11:42am, McMahon directed Ms. Grant – in the middle of a workday – to meet him on a lower floor. When Ms. Grant arrived, McMahon led her inside his private locker room, locked the door, and forced himself on her over a massage table. Later that day, $15,000 in gift cards to Bloomingdales were purchased at McMahon’s direction and delivered by McMahon’s personal assistant to Ms. Grant in her office.”

McMahon allegedly sent explicit photos of Grant to other people in WWE, and when others at WWE expressed interest in having sex with Grant after seeing photos on his phone, McMahon allegedly texted: "She may scream and try to say NO!!although it would B difficult to say anything with a c— down her throat."

Regarding Lesnar, Grant alleged that after he signed a new contract, McMahon allegedly texted Grant "that part of the deal was f—ing U."

McMahon allegedly gave Lesnar Grant's cellphone number, and Lesnar allegedly asked her to send a video of herself urinating. Lesnar, who is married to former WWE star Sable, allegedly told Grant he wanted to "set a play date" in December 2021, but a snowstorm canceled plans.

 

[Jon]

The events of the current lawsuit took place in 2020-2021 I believe.

Sickening... isn't this why Sasha Banks left? Or part of it? I thought I read somewhere this was part of her decision.

 

[VashTheStampede]

Sickening... isn't this why Sasha Banks left? Or part of it? I thought I read somewhere this was part of her decision.

I never actually saw anything about that, I thought it was just booking related...but that would not surprise me.

 

[Jon]

I never actually saw anything about that, I thought it was just booking related...but that would not surprise me.

I swear there was something around the time she and a few other female wrestlers left where this was at least PART of the reason.... I could be mistaken, but it's sounds about right timing wise.

 

[Cole]

a Republican was involved in unsavory contact with women?!

I DON'T BELIEVE YOU

 

[Mark]

I never actually saw anything about that, I thought it was just booking related...but that would not surprise me.

I wouldn’t be surprised that these women are the fourth or fifth generation of talent to be subjected to that kinda behavior. Sunny… Sable… Marlena… Elizabeth… they all got a pretty shitty schtick handed to them at one point on-air, makes you wonder what was going on behind the scenes.

 

[Crystal]

Read the whole court filing and holy fuck.

 

[Webster]

On the other hand, we really don't know how widespread or deep this is.

If anything, it puts Bucky Beaver's (a/k/a Kevin Dunn) recent decision to leave WWE in a whole new light.
What did he know and would he be able to talk about it?

 

[Mark]

If anything, it puts Bucky Beaver's (a/k/a Kevin Dunn) recent decision to leave WWE in a whole new light.
What did he know and would he be able to talk about it?

I was also thinking that it helps give credibility to those people that said McMahon used leverage to silence people from speaking out. Kinda difficult to speak out against your boss if you’re participating in team-building exercises with him on the regular like those documents outline…

Sure, there’s the obvious layer of perversion and exploiting his power as the boss… but you don’t just wake up one day like that, it’s a slow burn, and requires quite a bit of deliberate effort.

Whether it’s the steroid issue of the late 80’s/early 90’s, or the early murmuring of sexual misconduct from this Diva or that Diva that was objectified on camera during the same time, there has definitely been something in the air at WWE headquarters for a looong time.

Also… has anyone mentioned Stephanie yet? Seeing how Vince passes around female talent, and he wrote his daughter into storylines that involved her own objectification, and she ended up marrying talent… I hope that fucker wasn’t passing his daughter around the same way. It’s shitty to think about, but nothing surprises me.

 

[VashTheStampede]

Three things come to mind when it comes to Stephanie in all this.

1. She led the big THANK YOU VINCE chants on the episode of Smackdown after it was announced he was stepping down due to these allegations. So she's complicit in trying to whitewash and protect him. Yes, it's complicated. No, I don't care that it's complicated.

2.


3. All those rumors about her and Macho Man when she was a teenager kind of hit different today.

 

[Mark]

Three things come to mind when it comes to Stephanie in all this.

1. She led the big THANK YOU VINCE chants on the episode of Smackdown after it was announced he was stepping down due to these allegations. So she's complicit in trying to whitewash and protect him. Yes, it's complicated. No, I don't care.

I remember seeing clips of that when it came out, but never watched his departure or anything leading up to it. It reminds me of a girl I know who was molested by her father and defended/protected him until the day he died. It was only then, and in retrospect, that the gravity of what she had done to continue her own abuse the entire time hit her. She’s not alive anymore, she couldn’t bear it.

2.

This was after I stopped watching, but adds an interesting layer considering my knowledge was of her and Paul back in the day.

3. All those rumors about her and Macho Man when she was a teenager kind of hit different today.

Yeah… I had forgotten about that. Correct me if I’m wrong, but he wasn’t the only name thrown out, right?

 

[VashTheStampede]

Yeah… I had forgotten about that. Correct me if I’m wrong, but he wasn’t the only name thrown out, right?

It was the only one I'm familiar with...but my wrestling history expertise, wide and varied as it is, isn't amazing when it comes to the salacious rumor department.

 

[Mark]

It was the only one I'm familiar with...but my wrestling history expertise, wide and varied as it is, isn't amazing when it comes to the salacious rumor department.

Exactly… same here, and I wouldn’t even consider what I have to be expertise. I just want to remember there being other names floated around before and during the original DX storyline timeline. The only reason it checks out in my head is because that’s around when she became a more prominent role.

 

[Friel]

I'm genuinely disgusted at what I've just read. Fucking hell.

 

[Webster]

Sure, there’s the obvious layer of perversion and exploiting his power as the boss… but you don’t just wake up one day like that, it’s a slow burn, and requires quite a bit of deliberate effort.

It also makes VKM's father's past actions when he was running the then-WWF look bad, especially w/regards to the late Fabulous Moolah....per the Tropes,

-Broken Base: The fans are split over Moolah's status with WWE. They have yet to acknowledge the accusations against her and have continued to honor her throughout the years. Fans can't decide whether her wrestling achievements should be separated from her real life behaviour. On the other hand, despite telling fans that The Fabulous Moolah was the greatest champion in the history of pro wrestling she was treated like a joke for most of her time in company.
-Harsher in Hindsight: Her character of a Dirty Old Woman in the 90s and 2000s and the various skits have now become quite uncomfortable - especially the 2006 PPV where she and Mae Young forcibly stripped Victoria - with the accusations that she pimped out her trainees to other promoters.
-Troubled Production: Said "production" in this case being the entirety of U.S. women's wrestling, which Moolah had a crippling effect on. Thanks to dubious politicking and other exchanges of favors, she managed to held the NWA Women's Championship for a long, long time (before selling it to the WWF to turn it into their women's title) and made herself the Alpha and Omega of women's wrestling, only creating talent in order to tear them down herself later on. There's also the fact made her trainees pay room and board, took a large cut of their earnings, forbade them from having bank accounts in their own names, and conspired many other ways to keep them poor and dependent. The final insult: she torpedoed the WWF careers of the Glamour Girls and Jumping Bomb Angels, although in that latter case the dispute is whether or not it was ultimately a good thing. Some liked the tag team division or and wanted to see more of Leilani Kai and such. Others are just glad Vince didn't get his fingers in the Japanese industry for too long. In the case of earnings, if she really was taking 25% from women working for Girl Wrestling Enterprises, then she was slightly-less evil than Billy Lee, who took 50%.
-Cat Fight: Moolah sold pictures of her students in apartment cat fight poses for Bill Apter's magazines, after Stanley Weston convinced a reluctant Apter that Sex Sells. This lead to an "Apartment Wrestling" boom in the 1970s. Previously "apartment wrestling" had mostly been something done by bored pro wrestling fans who weren't trying to make money or entertain anyone other than themselves, similar to Backyard Wrestling. In fact, prior to Moolah's commercialization of the concept apartment was a misnomer, as the most common participants were stay at home wives in the rooms of their own homes.

etc., etc., etc.

 

[VashTheStampede]

 

[Webster]

As much as I love listening to Jim Cornette and Brian Last, they stepped on it big time w/their take on this situation...

 

[Webster]

*continues* Just read the comments.....yikes.

 

[Webster]

Oh, on that Vash...

 

[VashTheStampede]

 

[Crystal]

View attachment 8066

Good. Now burn whatever desk chair he occupied, I'd be horrified to know what's on that.

 

[Webster]

View attachment 8066

To Vince McMahon...

 

[Webster]

Now burn whatever desk chair he occupied

With Vinny Mac tied to it!

 

[Mark]

View attachment 8066

“Out of respect for the WWE Universe, TKO, shareholders, and business partners.”

…respect.

…shitting on people.

…literally.

…right.

 

[Webster]

Out of respect for the WWE Universe

That alone should cost them sponsors....

 

[Mark]

Is it too soon to start sharing the memes?

Would it be uncouth?

Would y’all think less of me if I did?

Tune in next time for more questions I’d normally ask myself if I had impulse control in these type of settings.

 

[Crystal]

OMG, Scatman Vince...that is so fucking perfect.

 

[Mark]

OMG, Scatman Vince...that is so fucking perfect.

Dude, that whole creepy old man ‘stache he was rocking for a while makes SO much sense.

 

[Crystal]

Dude, that whole creepy old man ‘stache he was rocking for a while makes SO much sense.

It sure does. Looking like a creepy Gomez Addams

 

[Mark]

It sure does. Looking like a creepy Gomez Addams

 

[VashTheStampede]

Raul Julia was so rad

 

[Mark]

Raul Julia was so rad

BEST Gomez ever, and a dedicated actor. Dude was dying of cancer during filming and you couldn’t tell.

 

[VashTheStampede]

BEST Gomez ever, and a dedicated actor. Dude was dying of cancer during filming and you couldn’t tell.

Oh I thought that was Street Fighter.

But maybe it was both

 

[Mark]

Oh I thought that was Street Fighter.

But maybe it was both

Pretty sure it was the second Addams Family movie he was in, which if I’m not mistaken was around the same time as the Street Fighter movie.

 

[Jon]

Oh I thought that was Street Fighter.

But maybe it was both

Indeed it was Street Fighter.

 

[Jon]

Pretty sure it was the second Addams Family movie he was in, which if I’m not mistaken was around the same time as the Street Fighter movie.

It was Street Fighter. I remember an article when he died saying something like he knew he had cancel and still agreed to take on the role, knowing it would likely be his last, and unsure if he'd finish filming.

 

[Webster]

It was Street Fighter. I remember an article when he died saying something like he knew he had cancel and still agreed to take on the role, knowing it would likely be his last, and unsure if he'd finish filming.

Per the Tropes...

The film is notable for containing Raúl Juliá's last major film role, as he passed away from a stroke two months before its release; the film was dedicated to his memory. He took the job knowing he was terminally ill with stomach cancer and let his children pick out which movie would be his last, and apparently wanted to go out on a loud note for his final performance.

 

[Webster]

 

[VashTheStampede]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/gLZ7TBZa0J