Vince McMahon hit back at the ex-WWE employee who accused him of sex trafficking by claiming she pursued their affair by sneaking into his penthouse apartment in the middle of the night to cheat on her fiancé, who lived in the same building.
In McMahon’s motion to compel arbitration, obtained by DailyMail.com, the 78-year-old wrestling mogul claims Janel Grant, 43, was a willing participant in their sexual relationship for three years. McMahon also continued to deny the explosive charges levied against him in her lawsuit, including the claim that he defecated on her during a threesome.
‘The Complaint’s outrageous claims of sexual abuse and coercion are pure fiction—plainly intended to garner publicity—and are flatly contradicted by Plaintiff’s own contemporaneous statements,’ read McMahon’s filing in US District Court in Connecticut. ‘Contrary to Plaintiff’s false allegations, Plaintiff and Defendant engaged in a consensual relationship during which Defendant never coerced Plaintiff into doing anything and never mistreated her in any way.’
In a statement provided to DailyMail.com, Grant’s attorney Ann Callis insisted that her client was no longer in a relationship with her former fiancé, Brian Goncalves, at the time referenced in McMahon’s filing: ‘Her ex-boyfriend allowed her to stay in the apartment as she rebuilt her life… She had no job and no other financial support to lean back on.’
Grant filed a lawsuit in January accusing McMahon and other WWE executives of sex trafficking as well as emotional and physical abuse during her time with the wrestling promotion. Since then, McMahon has resigned from the WWE and sold more than $400 million worth of stock in TKO, the newly formed company that was created by the WWE-UFC merger.
A woman who alleged she had been sexually abused by Vince McMahon wrote a love letter to the former WWE CEO but claims she was coerced into doing it, according to a new report
Janel Grant (above), a former WWE employee, accused McMahon, who is under investigation by New York prosecutors, of sex trafficking and multiple counts of sexual misconduct
McMahon’s filing also includes a excerpts from a purported love letter he received from Grant.
‘In fact, in a love letter Plaintiff wrote to Defendant shortly before the Parties ended their relationship, Plaintiff described Defendant as ”[m]y best friend, my love and my everything,” praising him for being the ‘wonderful, tender, vulnerable, heart-on-your-sleeve soul you really are,’ the filing reads.
‘It is incredulous that Plaintiff, a then 42-year-old woman who claims on her resume to have a law degree from Pace University, would have written these words to Defendant months after all the events in the Complaint of alleged abuse, coercion, and ”sex-trafficking” took place.’
Grant’s attorney previously responded to that claim in a statement, insisting that her client was coerced.
‘Frankly it’s pretty disgusting that Vince’s weeks-late attempt to defend his horrendous behavior – behavior he claims to this day never happened – is to try to showcase letters that Vince himself coerced her to write.’ read the statement.
Grant previously agreed to a $3 million settlement in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement in 2022, but filed a lawsuit against McMahon in January after he stopped making payments after the initial $1 million installment.
Her lawsuit seeks to avoid that agreement, while his filing this week aims to push the matter into arbitration.
McMahon claims Grant was living with her fiancé, but she says they were no longer together
Furthermore, Grant claims she suffered bruising and bleeding after McMahon forcefully penetrated her with sex toys, which he named after his wrestlers.
She also alleges that McMahon and another WWE executive locked her in a room at the WWE’s Stamford, Connecticut headquarters in June of 2021 and took turns sexually assaulting during the work day.
Grant’s filing alleges that the married McMahon ensnared her in a sexual relationship by promising to help advance her career before ultimately exploiting her and trafficking her to other executives within the company.
In one alleged text message from 2020, McMahon is accused of sharing a photo of Grant with others and writing: ‘She may scream and try to say NO!!although it would B difficult to say anything with a c*** down her throat.’
Another message allegedly sent by McMahon to Grant a month earlier read: ‘i’m the only one who owns U and controls who I want to f*** U.’
WWE executive and retired wrestler John Laurinaitis is also named as a defendant in the suit.
Grant claims that McMahon directed her to regularly visit Laurinaitis at a hotel, where the two had daily sexual encounters prior to reporting to the office.
‘I’ve left that hotel feeling bad about myself every time,’ Grant claims she told McMahon.
John is the uncle of former NFL linebacker James Laurinaitis. His brothers Joe and Marcus also wrestled in the WWE.
Callis has issued her own statement in response to McMahon’s filing.
‘Vince McMahon has never known a storyline that he doesn’t twist to fit his own shameful narrative,’ read the statement from Grant’s attorney. ‘Her father was in in-home hospice during his final days where Janel continued to care for him around the clock.
‘Prior to his death, she had been caring for her blind, wheelchair-bound mother. Using the grief of someone who lost both of her parents is an all new level of disgusting.’
