Michael Hayes Backstage At WWE Royal Rumble After Being Mentioned In Janel Grant Lawsuit

There has been no change in Michael Hayes' WWE status despite him being named in the amended lawsuit filed by Janel Grant against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis on Friday.

PWInsider has reported that Michael Hayes is backstage at the Royal Rumble working as a producer. Hayes reportedly left the WWE hotel with a number of top backstage employees earlier on Saturday.

Hayes - who has worked with WWE since 1995 and had a prominent backstage role since 1999 - was named in the amended lawsuit filed by Janel Grant. It was alleged that Vince McMahon instructed Grant to produce pornographic content for Michael Hayes.

The lawsuit stated: "In or about September 2020, McMahon instructed Ms. Grant to create customized pornographic content for producer Michael Hayes and his crew."

An alleged text message from Grant reads: "Hey Michael! Vince's stories are true. And I love to live up to hype. Xoxo."

Brock Lesnar was also named in the amended lawsuit, having been listed as 'WWE Superstar' in Grant's initial complaint. Lesnar has not appeared on WWE TV since SummerSlam 2023 and PWInsider noted there has been zero talk of the former WWE Champion appearing in the Men's Royal Rumble.

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