Co-defendant in sexual assault lawsuit against Vince McMahon agrees to provide evidence against him
By John Towfighi, CNN
(CNN) — John Laurinaitis, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive, has reached a settlement with a former WWE employee who accused him of sexual assault and has agreed to provide evidence in her ongoing lawsuit against embattled former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
Laurinaitis, who was the co-defendant in a lawsuit against McMahon alleging sexual assault, trafficking and physical abuse, has been dismissed from the suit after he reached a confidential settlement with Janel Grant, the plaintiff, and agreed to cooperate and provide evidence in her lawsuit against McMahon.
A filing on Wednesday in a US district court in Connecticut showed a motion by attorneys for Grant and Laurinaitis to dismiss Laurinaitis from the lawsuit against McMahon.
“John Laurinaitis has agreed to cooperate and provide evidence in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE,” said attorneys for Laurinaitis and Grant in a statement. “His agreement to a confidential settlement is a pivotal next step toward holding McMahon and WWE accountable and bringing justice to Ms. Grant after years of sexual abuse and trafficking.”
WWE, TKO Group Holdings (TKO) (WWE’s parent company) and attorneys for McMahon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Allegations of sexual abuse, trafficking
Grant filed suit against McMahon and WWE in January 2024 and accused the former CEO of sexual assault, trafficking and physical abuse. Grant alleges that McMahon promised a job and subsequent promotions at WWE in exchange for sex, in addition to trafficking her to other men inside and outside of the company.
In January 2024, McMahon stepped down as chairman of TKO, WWE’s parent company, following Grant’s allegations of sexual assault and trafficking. McMahon has denied the allegations.
McMahon has been embroiled in allegations of misconduct in past years.
In 2022, McMahon had stepped down as CEO of WWE and the following year paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to Rita Chatterton, a former employee and referee, who accused McMahon of raping her in 1986.
“Mr. McMahon denies and always has denied raping Ms. Chatterton. And he settled the case solely to avoid the cost of litigation,” Jerry McDevitt, a lawyer for McMahon, told the Wall Street Journal at the time.
McMahon in January agreed to pay $1.7 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges over settlements he made on behalf of himself and WWE without properly disclosing them to the company’s board of directors.
In October, McMahon and his wife Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary, were named in a lawsuit alleging they knowingly enabled the sexual abuse of children by a WWE employee in the 1980s — allegations they deny.
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