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stumblebee

The Fallen
Jan 22, 2018
2,507
TW: Graphic depictions of sexual abuse

Link to article: https://www.wsj.com/business/vince-...-paid-to-keep-quiet-0b19b21c?mod=hp_lead_pos2

im-916009


Choice quotes:

A woman who received a payout from WWE boss Vince McMahon has accused McMahon, the company and a former executive of sex trafficking in a new lawsuit that raises questions about the breadth of an internal company probe conducted by a law firm last year.

Janel Grant, a former employee at WWE's headquarters, said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that she was abused and sexually exploited by McMahon while he was chief executive. She alleged that McMahon lured her with promises of career advancement, and then he allegedly exploited her and trafficked her to other men inside the company.

Grant alleged that McMahon shared nude photos and explicit videos of her without consent with other WWE employees, unnamed executives and stars, and directed her to have sex with them. The suit cited a July 2020 text that said others at WWE wanted to have sex with her after seeing photos on McMahon's phone, and the group laughed when he told them, "She may scream and try to say NO!!although it would B difficult to say anything with a c— down her throat."

Grant alleged that the company diverted attention away from McMahon's abuse by focusing on the accounting for the payouts. Others at WWE knew about McMahon's misconduct but worked to conceal the wrongdoing, according to the suit.

Grant began working in June 2019 as an "administrator-coordinator," a position McMahon created for her in WWE's legal department. She said she expressed concerns that the job felt unearned, but McMahon told her that all she needed to do was not tell anyone and that "it just has to look legit." Colleagues complained about overflowing inboxes, but Grant had little work.

Meanwhile, McMahon allegedly sent her sexually explicit messages and his sexual demands increased. He forcefully used sex toys on her, including dildos he named after WWE wrestlers, causing her bruising and bleeding, the suit said. Grant alleged that she complained to McMahon and made attempts to end the relationship.

In March 2020, McMahon began sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos of Grant with other men, including other WWE executives and a former UFC heavyweight champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract, according to the suit. In a May 2020 encounter, McMahon defecated on her head during a threesome, the suit said.

Three people implicated in this article. Vince McMahon, John Laurinitis, and Brock Lesnar. If you can find the whole article, I strongly suggest you read it.
 
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Sawneeks

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,854
Heavy emphasis on the content warning. Whatever you think this story is about, it's much worse.

Vince should have been in jail long ago. This story is horrific and I feel awful for Janel Grant and every other person Vince has abused.
 

jml

Member
Mar 9, 2018
4,783
Jesus christ, obviously we all knew he was a piece of shit but this stuff is a whole new level. What a garbage human being.
 

Neonzel

Hero of Bowerstone
Member
Apr 30, 2018
1,897
Philadelphia
In March 2020, McMahon began sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos of Grant with other men, including other WWE executives and a former UFC heavyweight champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract, according to the suit. In a May 2020 encounter, McMahon defecated on her head during a threesome, the suit said.
Her mental and physical health deteriorated so badly that McMahon sent her in November to a celebrity doctor for sessions at an alternative clinic where she never received any receipts or bills. McMahon also paid $20,000 to a surgeon on her behalf, the suit said.

McMahon recruited people to have sex with Grant as well, including WWE's former head of talent relations, John Laurinaitis, who is named as a defendant in the suit. McMahon directed her to visit Laurinaitis at his hotel rooms where she had sex with Laurinaitis prior to the start of workdays, the suit alleged. "I've left that hotel feeling bad about myself every time," Grant told McMahon.

In July 2021, the suit said, McMahon instructed Grant to create personalized sexual content for a WWE superstar that he was trying to re-sign. The suit didn't name the professional wrestler, but described him as both a UFC fighter and WWE talent. People familiar with the matter identified the wrestler as Brock Lesnar, one of WWE's biggest names.
Lesnar didn't immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.

The suit said McMahon shared the explicit photos with the star and informed Grant that "he likes what he sees." After the star agreed to a new WWE contract, McMahon texted Grant in August 2021 to say "that part of the deal was f—ing U."

That December, McMahon gave Grant's personal cellphone number to the WWE star, the lawsuit said. The wrestler asked her to send a video of herself urinating, the suit said, and after she did, he called her a "b—." That same month, the suit said, the star expressed a desire to "set a play date," but a snowstorm disrupted his travel plans.
In January 2022, the suit said, McMahon told Grant that his wife, Linda McMahon, had discovered the relationship and he pressured Grant to sign an NDA in exchange for payments. The CEO warned Grant of reputational ruin that included pornographic content he had of her. He paid her about $1 million in February, the suit said, and later stopped making the payments.

Jesus Christ, They all need to be in jail
 

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
116,182
The CW in the OP doesn't even do it justice. The explanations of the shit Vince did are disgusting on so many levels. I feel sick reading them.
 

Strike

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,416
So that's why he's trending right now. Goddamn and that recent?! It gets worse the further I read.
 

Excuse me

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,024
How involved this dude is with WWE these days? Didn't Netflix just do north of 5$ billion deal with WWE and does this scumbag get richer because of that deal? I was even entertaining the idea of getting back to WWE once it's on netflix since I haven't seen a match since 2004 or so. But maan, this guy just sucks.
 

Sawneeks

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,854
The article says it later but the 'UFC champion' they were trying to recruit in that quote is supposedly Brock Lesnar. Who also does some very awful shit.

In July 2021, the suit said, McMahon instructed Grant to create personalized sexual content for a WWE superstar that he was trying to re-sign. The suit didn't name the professional wrestler, but described him as both a UFC fighter and WWE talent. People familiar with the matter identified the wrestler as Brock Lesnar, one of WWE's biggest names.
 

Horns

Member
Dec 7, 2018
2,567
I already strongly disliked the man. This only cements the fact that he is a criminal.
 

Sawneeks

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,854
How involved this dude is with WWE these days? Didn't Netflix just do north of 5$ billion deal with WWE and does this scumbag get richer because of that deal?
from the article, "McMahon is now executive chairman and a major shareholder of the combined company, called TKO Group"
 

Lord Fanny

Member
Apr 25, 2020
25,979
How involved this dude is with WWE these days? Didn't Netflix just do north of 5$ billion deal with WWE and does this scumbag get richer because of that deal?

He no longer owns the company, it was sold to Endeavor and merged with UFC, but he still has a position on the board of the merged company (TKO) and owns a ton of stock in it
 

mclem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,509
There was a 'stepping down' story a little while back, was it to prepare for this?
 
OP
OP
stumblebee

stumblebee

The Fallen
Jan 22, 2018
2,507
Given the timing of this article, I would assume someone from the TKO group wants Vince out ASAP after closing the Netflix deal a few days ago.
 

DarkstarIV

Member
Feb 21, 2018
8,777
How involved this dude is with WWE these days? Didn't Netflix just do north of 5$ billion deal with WWE and does this scumbag get richer because of that deal? I was even entertaining the idea of getting back to WWE once it's on netflix since I haven't seen a match since 2004 or so. But maan, this guy just sucks.
Not that involved. Ari had the foresight to basically make him a powerless figurehead at most these days when it comes to WWE. Nick Khan and Triple H call all of the shots now. There's also a clause in his new contract that Endeavor can execute that can force him to sell his stocks if stuff like this breaks, so its a waiting game to see if he does it.

Ari has strongly hinted that they were going to push Vince out at some point, and I wouldn't be shocked if this article came from their side of things.
 

Kemal86

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,431
Unless you feel that you really, really need to, I would advise not reading the full contents of this. It's rough.
 

Lord Fanny

Member
Apr 25, 2020
25,979
There was a 'stepping down' story a little while back, was it to prepare for this?

He stepped down from WWE after another story that came out previously. He basically forced himself back in to facilitate the sale of the company and was told that he was no longer to run the day to day of WWE. He never stepped down from the merged WWE/UFC company, TKO
 

Lord Hypnos

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,115
UK
I'm no longer surprised by anything regarding this giant piece of shit. I feel so bad for his victims and it's about time he stopped getting away with his abhorrent actions.
 

cjelly

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,301
The article says it later but the 'UFC champion' they were trying to recruit in that quote is supposedly Brock Lesnar. Who also does some very awful shit.
Yes, it sounds like Lesnar was shown pics and stuff.

Lauranitis was involved.

And a bunch of people in corporate knew about it but kept quiet. One of them is a high-ranking exec who is still employed after the merger.
 

Lord Fanny

Member
Apr 25, 2020
25,979
I thought I'd never be surprised by anything Vince did, but I'll admit, that threesome story shocked me. Like goddamn.
 

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,451
Full article is a doozy. This man needs to be jail until he dies.
 

KNZFive

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,782
On top of the new horrible details of this story, the other big aspect is that Brock Lesnar is implicated in this as well. He didn't force himself on her, but he was apparently down with Vince "offering" her to him.

This feels like a story TKO had in their backpocket to release right after the Netflix deal so they could finally force McMahon out again.
 

DarkstarIV

Member
Feb 21, 2018
8,777
Yes, it sounds like Lesnar was shown pics and stuff.

Lauranitis was involved.

And a bunch of people in corporate knew about it but kept quiet. One of them is a high-ranking exec who is still employed after the merger.
Yup. I should preface this now (and I'm not accusing you or anyone else of it here, by the way, but I've seen it floating around in other sites), that it's probably not the best idea to speculate that talent knew about this either. Because I've seen a fair number of people trying to claim that it was obviously an open secret in the company and the talent was in the know.

Which is treading very close to the slander/libel line in the sand, especially if names start getting tossed out recklessly by people online.
 

kmfdmpig

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
19,401
Awful, and worrisome that it's not just McMahon, but many of the execs seem rotten to the core.
 

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,451
Awful, and worrisome that it's not just McMahon, but many of the execs seem rotten to the core.
Probably has happened before many times. Vince used NDAs. He used it here but the victim's lawyers are arguing it they should be thrown out due to the trafficking implications.
 
Oct 8, 2019
9,155
This sounds like the kind of shit that gets you thrown in prison, like its pretty hard to argue that what Vince was doing was sex trafficking women to please certain people like Laurinaitis.
 

ramoisdead

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,634
Not only is Vince a big piece of abhorrent shit but they really need to investigate Brock, Lauranitis, and Kevin Dunn. The whole top brass of Vince's crew is poison.