Vince McMahon, the founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has been accused of serious sexual misconduct including offering a female colleague up to a star wrestler for sex and defecating on her head during a threesome.
Janel Grant, a WWE employee, filed a lawsuit in Connecticut district court on Thursday accusing the 78-year-old businessman of sexual assault, trafficking and physical abuse.
Ms Grant’s lawsuit also includes allegations that Mr McMahon trafficked her to other men inside and outside the company. Other defendants named include John Laurinaitis, the WWE’s former head of talent relations.
A spokesman for Mr McMahon said he would “vigorously defend himself” and that the case was “replete with lies”. Mr Laurinaitis has yet to comment on the allegations.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr McMahon dangled “career-making and life-changing” promises in front of Ms Grant after the pair were introduced in 2019.
According to the lawsuit, Mr McMahon lived in the same building as Ms Grant and in 2019 offered to get her a job at WWE after her parents died.
‘Sex was requirement of the job’
She alleges that he eventually made it clear that one of the requirements of the job was a physical relationship with him and later with Mr Laurinaitis and others.
Over the next few years, Mr McMahon lavished her with gifts, including an expensive car, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr McMahon and Mr Laurinaitis “controlled her continued employment with WWE, and pressured her to engage in sex acts”.
It also alleges that Mr McMahon offered one of his star wrestlers sex with Grant as a perk in 2021. The wrestler was not named in the lawsuit.
Mr McMahon allegedly sent sexually explicit photographs and videos of Ms Grant to other WWE employees.
“Ms Grant was exploited during her time of employment with WWE and was subjected to countless depraved and humiliating acts, which has led to severe and permanent trauma,” the lawsuit said.