A woman who had accused former WWE president Vince McMahon of sex trafficking and assault agreed Thursday to a pause in her lawsuit at the request of the Justice Department while the federal government conducts its own investigation.
In a bombshell lawsuit filed in Connecticut federal court earlier this year against wrestling mogul McMahon and another executive, John Laurinaitis, Janelle Grant alleged that McMahon used her as a sex slave and defecated on her head.
“Mr. Grant has agreed to the request of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to suspend the proceedings against Mr. McMahon, WWE and Mr. Laurinaitis, pursuant to the ongoing closed investigation,” Grant’s attorney, Ann Callis, said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post.
“We will work together on appropriate next steps.”
McMahon and Laurinaitis deny the allegations.
“We are confident that the evidence will prove that Ms. Grant’s allegations are false and that her lawsuit is nothing more than a fabricated, revenge-driven tale by a disgruntled ex-lover,” McMahon’s lawyer, Jessica Rosenberg, told The Washington Post.
The Post has reached out to WWE and Laurinaitis for comment.
The stay will be for six months, a person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
Manhattan-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mortazavi has joined the federal investigation into McMahon, according to a court filing Thursday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
McMahon, who stepped down as chairman of WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings following Grant’s lawsuit, is the subject of a federal investigation into allegations that he paid hush money to women over a period of years.
In court documents filed last month, McMahon alleged that Grant was a willing participant in their sexual affair, claiming that she would sneak into his penthouse late at night, climb into his bed and then return to her own room in the same building.
McMahon also claims that Grant had written her love letters and that they had made plans for a future together – a claim that Grant’s representatives have denied, saying he was coerced into writing the letters.
Grant filed suit in January, alleging he had not paid $3 million in hush money to keep their relationship secret.
Ms. Grant was employed by Mr. McMahon at WWE headquarters in Stamford from June 2019 until March 2022. Ms. Grant alleges that Mr. McMahon distributed lewd photos and videos of her to other men, including other WWE employees.
Grant is seeking unspecified damages and the voiding of a $3 million non-disclosure agreement, of which she claims she has only received $1 million.
