Janel Grant’s lawyer: She felt ‘caged & imprisoned’ by Vince McMahon

For the first time since news of Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon broke, her lawyer spoke for the first time publicly to shed some insight into what Grant wants, what she alleges to have experienced, and if she thinks there are other victims.

On Crime Fix as part of the Law & Crime Network, Ann Callis said Grant was “physically and mentally destroyed” by what she alleges McMahon did to her during her tenure at WWE, later stating Grant “literally felt caged and imprisoned by Vince McMahon and….the escalation of degrading things that happened to her, it’s important for it to come out.”

In the lawsuit, Grant alleges she was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking that began after she met McMahon when they were living in the same apartment building and continued through her three years as an employee.

“She believes (filing the suit) is the first step. Filing this lawsuit took some tremendous courage from her. She was in an extremely vulnerable position when she first encountered Vince McMahon,” she said, explaining Grant’s parents had died and she needed a job.

She continued, “So already, besides being in an inordinately uneven playing field between Vince McMahon and Janel, our client, she still tried to conduct herself… tried to be the best possible employee for the WWE that she could be under the most devastating and sexually depraved circumstances.”

Grant’s $3 million hush money settlement and NDA with McMahon led to him being investigated by the WWE Board of Directors in 2022. However, she is alleging she was only paid $1 million and is seeking to both void the agreement and NDA, and get unspecified financial damages.

McMahon’s spokesperson said he will “vigorously defend himself” against the claims being made. McMahon resigned from his position as executive chairman of TKO Friday night and will no longer have anything to do with TKO or WWE.

Callis feels there are other victims out there, including ones that might not necessarily have worked for WWE.

“Just the way that the grooming of Janel went on, it just indicates that are a lot of indicators that there may be, and probably are, other victims out there. One of Janel’s hopes is that by coming forward, she will give the courage to other victims to come forward,” she said.

Callis said while they are gathering witnesses for a trial, Grant didn’t personally know anyone else in WWE that experienced something similar.

The lawyer went further into what Grant wants out of this lawsuit that was filed against McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE.

“She wants her life back. She wants ownership of her story. She wants to help other victims. This is relatively close in time, 2019 when this unfolded, 2020, and her hope is to help other victims, if there are other victims, to come forward because she had the courage and the presence of mind to finally get this done and come forward,” she said.

She later relayed a statement for Grant:

“That she hopes any doors of secrecy have been blown off their hinges, and that fresh air fills the headquarters. She hopes those at the company, past and present, who fear speaking out about harm is a thing of the past. She wishes everyone peace.”