The attorney of former WWE employee Janel Grant called this week for WWE to void any nondisclosure agreements signed by employees or contractors who currently or formerly worked for the company.
Per the Associated Press, lawyer Ann Callis released a statement regarding the request she sent to WWE, saying:
"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."
Grant, who was a WWE employee from 2019 to 2022, filed a lawsuit against McMahon, former WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis and WWE as a whole in January.
She alleged that McMahon—who was the longtime chairman and CEO of WWE until his resignation in January amid the lawsuit—sexually assaulted her and sexually trafficked her to others in the company.
Grant also alleged that she was pressured into signing a $3 million nondisclosure agreement that McMahon stopped paying on after an initial $1 million payment.
Prior to Grant's lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2022 that McMahon paid $12 million to four different women as part of NDAs meant to "keep secret allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity" regarding him.
One of the women alleged that McMahon coerced her into oral sex and another alleged that he sent her unsolicited nude photos and sexually harassed her on the job.
McMahon retired from WWE following the report, but he returned to his position of chairman in January 2023 to help facilitate the sale of the company to Endeavor, which also owns UFC.
He was appointed to the position of chairman of TKO Group, which is name of the joint WWE-UFC company, but resigned in January 2024.
Per the AP, he has denied Grant's allegations, saying in a statement that her lawsuit is "replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth." He added, "I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name."
Laurinaitis has also denied the allegations against him, including that he and McMahon sexually assaulted Grant at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Grant's allegations and the findings that McMahon paid hush money to multiple other women were featured in a docuseries entitled Mr. McMahon that released on Netflix last month.
Regarding Callis' request for WWE to cancel all NDAs, McMahon, Laurinaitis and WWE all have yet to comment publicly.
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