John Laurinaitis Performs Legal U-Turn, Supports Vince McMahon
John Laurinaitis now backing Vince McMahon's motion for arbitration in Janel Grant lawsuit.
Content warning; discussion of alleged sexual assault, r*pe.
John Laurinaitis now supports Vince McMahon's motion to compel arbitration in Janel Grant's lawsuit against the former WWE executives and the market-leading wrestling promotion itself.
Edward M. Brennan, Laurinaitis' legal representative, released the following statement on his client's behalf:
John Laurinaitis has filed a Motion today fully joining in and adopting Vince McMahon’s motion to compel arbitration. Mr. Laurinaitis corroborates Mr. McMahon in publicly declaring that Ms. Grant’s allegations of sexual abuse and coercion in her Complaint are completely unfounded. My client will fight these false allegations together with Mr. McMahon in the proper forum, arbitration.
Laurinaitis' complete motion can be viewed here.
Grant had launched her lawsuit against McMahon, Laurinaitis, and WWE in January, alleging sexual, physical, and emotional assault.
On 23 April, McMahon filed a motion to compel arbitration and send the matter to a private hearing. The former WWE CEO's side reiterated its stance that Grant and McMahon had been in a consensual relationship, disputing Janel's claims that she was in financial difficulty before meeting McMahon, and was dealing with grief following the death of her parents during their relationship.
McMahon's lawyer, Jessica Taub Rosenberg, has released a statement on Laurinaitis' new motion:
In January 2024, Ms. Grant, a 43-year-old with a law degree, who was in love with Mr. McMahon and devastated by their break-up, filed an outrageous and false lawsuit to ruin Mr. McMahon’s career and reputation. Now, her false allegations are slowly unraveling. Today, Mr. Laurinaitis’ attorney confirmed his client will corroborate Mr. McMahon’s account and expose the lies within the Complaint. Despite their intense efforts, Ms. Grant’s attorneys won’t be able to suppress the truth from coming out.
In filing this motion, Laurinaitis has performed a legal U-turn, aligning himself with McMahon. In February, Brennan issued a statement on Laurinaitis' behalf stating that WWE's former Head of Talent Relations, too, was a victim, alleging McMahon had exerted control over him (via VICE News):
Mr. Laurinaitis denies the allegations in the misguided complaint and will be vigorously defending these charges in court, not the media. Like the plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out... Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them.
Additionally, Brennan issued the following statement to Wrestlenomics and POST Wrestling in April, referencing Grant's representative, Ann Callis:
Judge Callis was a learned judge and is a skilled litigator. I anticipate she will ultimately see that Mr. Lauriniatis is, like her client, a victim in this case, and Judge Callis will do the right thing and dismiss my client from this lawsuit. In the event she does not, my client will clear his name and reputation in Court, not in the media.
Laurinaitis was named in the lawsuit as one of the individuals McMahon allegedly trafficked Grant to. The suit claims that Grant, a former WWE employee, was told to make "explicit content" for Laurinaitis, who is also alleged to have r*ped Janel in McMahon's office.