Janel Grant Asks For NDAs To Be Waived In Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon, WWE & John Laurinaitis

Janel Grant's lawyer Ann Callis has asked for the nondisclosure agreements that Vince McMahon has signed with former and current employees, as well as contractors, to be waived. This would allow the women to potentially come forward with similar allegations to those made by Grant earlier this year.

Associated Press has reported that Ann Callis emailed the request to attorneys for WWE, Vince McMahon, and John Laurinaitis late on Monday. So far there has been no comment from WWE, McMahon or Laurinaitis.

Callis revealed in a press release that WWE President Nick Khan, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H, TKO and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and Vince McMahon's former lawyer Jerry McDevitt were copied into the email.

Ann Callis said in a statement: "If WWE and its parent company Endeavor are serious about parting ways with Vince McMahon and the toxic workplace culture he created, their executives should have no problem with releasing former WWE employees from their NDAs. This is the first step to rehabilitating a company that covered up decades of sexual assault and human trafficking."

Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon, WWE, and Laurinaitis in January 2024, accusing McMahon of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse. WWE are accused of trying to cover up the allegations against McMahon, while Laurinaitis has been accused of sexual assault.

Vince McMahon resigned as TKO Executive Chairman shortly after the lawsuit was filed. The lawsuit is currently on pause until December 2024 while federal prosecutors investigate several allegations of sexual misconduct against McMahon.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating McMahon since the Summer of 2022 and the former WWE CEO was served with a grand jury subpoena last year for documents related to any allegations of "rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transaction, harassment, or discrimination."

The subpoena mentioned Janel Grant and several other women McMahon has signed nondisclosure agreements with, including a WWE contractor who McMahon allegedly sexually harassed and sent unsolicited nudes to, a former WWE wrestler who McMahon coerced into giving him oral sex, a spa manager who claimed McMahon sexually assaulted her, former WWE referee Rita Chatterton, and a former WWE employee who accused John Laurinaitis of demoting her after she broke off an affair with him.

Ann Callis' email in full reads:

Dear Mr. Toal, Ms. Rosenberg, and Mr. Brennan:

World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC (“WWE”) has said that it “takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact.” In other words, WWE would like the world to believe that it has reformed its workplace culture. But if WWE is truly committed to change, it must allow survivors to speak their truth without fear of reprisal. We call upon WWE to publicly waive enforcement of its non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) to allow its former and current employees and contractors (including wrestlers contracted to perform under the WWE brand) to speak out about sexual misconduct, sexual assault, harassment, and workplace aggression or disputes concerning the toxic culture at WWE. This includes releasing women who signed NDAs related to sexual misconduct by former CEO Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and other WWE leadership and employees as conditions of settlement. The toxic and sexualized culture at WWE during Mr. McMahon’s tenure as CEO and Chairman was open and notorious. Yet what has been publicly reported is only part of the picture. We have had witnesses come to us confidentially and describe a sexualized culture at WWE that victimizes women and men. We have received reports that many victims are currently afraid to come forward because of punitive non-disclosure and nondisparagement agreements. For example, as The Wall Street Journal reported on July 8, 2022, Mr. McMahon paid over $12 million to at least four women to secure their silence about his sexual misconduct. Our client is just one of an untold many. We therefore also ask Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis to affirm that survivors and WWE employees who witnessed abuse may speak about their experiences without fear of retribution and retaliation.

WWE cannot move on from its sordid past while its victims remain silenced. Survivors deserve an opportunity to share their experiences on their terms. Forced silence only deepens the wounds of sexual abuse. Survivors are revictimized every time they are muzzled and forced to live in fear of attack from a multi-billion-dollar business that can hire an army of lawyers to bury them in legal fees if they speak the truth. Even unenforceable NDAs, like the one our client was coerced to sign, have a chilling effect because individuals do not have the will or resources to fight them. WWE must clarify that any NDAs that it has entered are not intended to prevent disclosure of sexual misconduct, abuse, or assault, and disclaim and waive any claims it may have under those NDAs if current or former employees and contractors choose to speak out.

We urge WWE to quickly and proactively release its current and former employees and contractors from any obligations under any WWE-executed NDA that would prevent them from discussing sexual misconduct, abuse, or assault during their time at WWE without delay. WWE wants people to believe the company has changed—this is its chance to prove it. 

Regards, Ann E. Callis