Vince McMahon Files New Motion In Janel Grant Lawsuit

Lawyers for Vince McMahon have filed a new memorandum in response to a motion filed by Janel Grant's legal team to strike comments from McMahon's motion to request arbitration that was submitted on April 23. It was claimed by Janel Grant's legal team that McMahon used the motion to spread "inflammatory lies" and that the motion was used "as a platform to launch vicious falsehoods attacking Janel's moral character in an attempt to harass and intimidate her into submission."

In a new filing with the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, McMahon's legal team claimed Grant's motion to strike was "meritless and the height of hypocrisy. Having falsely accused Defendant in a public forum, despite an obligation to arbitrate, in an inflammatory 67-page Complaint that completely disregards the mandate of Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff now seeks to strike the Preliminary Statement of the Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration (Dkt. No. 30-1) on the purported basis that it is too 'inflammatory.'"

It was also claimed within the new filing by McMahon's legal team that Janel Grant's responses to Vince McMahon's text messages were "equally and often more aggressive and provocative than Defendant's communications and show not only that the relationship was consensual, but also that in many instances the Plaintiff was the initiator." 

Several alleged text messages from McMahon were included in the lawsuit filed by Grant but her responses were not present. Despite the claim from McMahon's legal team, the new filing stated the former WWE CEO and Chairman no longer has the text messages as he deleted them. 

Discovery in the case, McMahon's legal team has claimed, will show that Grant sent him explicit images of herself and that she texted him to say:

• That she was in love with him and he was the love of her life;
• That he was her best friend;
• That she wanted to have sex with him and providing graphic detail;
• That she fantasized about being held down, enjoyed being in pain, and wanted rough sex;
• That she wanted Defendant to watch her have sex with other people and know about her sex with others;
• That she wanted Defendant to give her thousands of dollars for clothes, plastic surgery, and other gifts;
• That she wanted to have a future with Defendant even after signing the Agreement; and
• That she wanted Defendant to keep living in the same building, so she could continue to see him, even after signing the Agreement.

The motion then argues that Grant's motion to strike McMahon's comments should be denied. 

Janel Grant's attorney Ann Callis issued the following statement to Wrestlenomics on May 14: "For any comment, see our original filing. We're confident the truth is laid out well there."

The legal struggles between McMahon and Janel Grant have been ongoing for months since Grant filed a lawsuit in January 2024 against McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. McMahon is accused of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse. John Laurinaitis is accused of sexual assault, while WWE is accused of trying to cover up the allegations against McMahon. 

John Laurinaitis' lawyer Edward Brennan initially claimed the former WWE Head of Talent Relations was also a victim of Vince McMahon but Laurinaitis has since U-turned and sided with McMahon, with both having filed motions requesting arbitration. WWE is expected to also file a motion to compel arbitration, which must be done by the end of May 14.