Summary

New court documents filed in Janel Grant's lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon contain detailed allegations that WWE President Nick Khan and former COO Brad Blum were directly informed by McMahon of his ongoing sexual relationship with Grant.

Grant submitted a memorandum on Wednesday opposing WWE and McMahon's motions to compel arbitration and remove the case from public court. Her attorneys argue the NDA she signed is unenforceable and that the matter should be heard in a public courtroom rather than resolved through private arbitration.

The filings trace a timeline beginning in August 2020, when Khan joined WWE as President and Chief Revenue Officer, through a series of alleged incidents and disclosures running into early 2021.

Details From the Filings

According to the documents, McMahon told Grant he had personally informed Khan about the sexual nature of their relationship. Grant alleges that Khan never raised the question of whether the relationship was consensual and, according to her account, was present during meetings while McMahon was engaged in sexual conduct with her.

The filings describe a violent incident in early March 2021 and a subsequent conversation on March 9, 2021, in which McMahon told Grant "people know about us" before revealing he had privately disclosed their relationship to both Khan and Brad Blum.

A separate section of the filing alleges that McMahon told Grant the former WWE General Counsel, identified as Brian Nurse, had raised concerns about the relationship during an internal meeting. McMahon allegedly described the matter as having been "handled," which Grant interpreted to mean Nurse had been terminated. Grant claims she was subsequently told to leave WWE's legal department because her presence was creating obstacles in hiring a new General Counsel, and that she had been designated a "corporate liability."

McMahon's public standing has been under scrutiny since Grant's lawsuit was first filed, and questions about his presence in wrestling circles have persisted.

Quote from Janel Grant

"In August 2020, Nick Khan was announced as WWE's new President and Chief Revenue Officer. In hindsight, I view Nick's arrival as the moment that my life changed for the worse. My fears about reporting the abuse were realized when I learned from Vince that he put the company's new President, essentially his second in command, on notice of his ongoing sexual conduct with me. Nick never asked me whether the relationship was consensual. Instead, Nick also waited for Vince to finish engaging with me sexually during meetings."

Grant's filing goes on to describe the events of early March 2021:

"In early March 2021, I was forced to participate in another threesome with Vince and Johnny [Laurinaitis] at Vince's condo, which was so extremely violent that it caused me to black out for the majority of the encounter.

On March 9, 2021, during work hours, Vince messaged me to meet with him that evening. That night, upon my arrival to Vince's condo for the meeting he requested, he didn't greet me warmly but rather exhaled and said, 'We need to talk. People know about us.' I immediately felt a full body panic set in and began sobbing, feeling as though this was a huge invasion of my privacy.

Vince then informed me that he had spoken privately with Nick Khan and Brad Blum during which he formally disclosed the sexual nature of his relationship with me. He said they expressed concern and one questioned whether I could be trusted. Vince told me he provided them with assurances about my loyalty, character, that I would never do something to hurt WWE, and that I 'would sooner jump off the balcony than hurt anyone.' He told me that, with these assurances, Nick and Brad were ultimately supportive."

Grant later described the circumstances surrounding the departure of WWE's General Counsel:

"Vince revealed that he and WWE leadership determined that I was a corporate liability. He then told me that they needed me to leave the legal department immediately as my presence had affected their ability to hire a new General Counsel.

To explain this, he revealed that the former General Counsel, Brian Nurse, had highly suspected or knew about Vince's sexual relationship with me, and he brought it to the attention of Vince's office during a meeting with Brad. As a result, Vince then flicked his wrist and stated it was 'handled.'

I understood this to mean that the General Counsel had identified Vince's conduct with me as a liability to the Executive Office and was subsequently terminated."

What the Nick Khan Allegations Mean for This Case

The direct naming of Nick Khan is the most consequential new element in these filings. Grant's account places the current WWE President not as an uninformed bystander but as someone McMahon claimed to have personally briefed on an active sexual relationship with an employee. Khan's response to these allegations, whether through denial or any acknowledged awareness, is likely to become a central issue as the litigation progresses.

If Grant's attorneys succeed in keeping the case in a public courtroom and defeating the arbitration motions, the depositions and document discovery that follow could expose considerably more about what WWE's senior leadership knew and when.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.