Janel Grant’s team has spoken to the press ahead of the premiere of the Vince McMahon docuseries on Netflix.
Back in January 2024, Janel Grant filed a lawsuit alleging Vince McMahon of sexual misconduct and trafficking, which led to McMahon resigning from all executive positions within the company. Former head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis and WWE are also both named as defendants. The lawsuit remained ongoing until June when Judge Jeffery A. Meyer issued a 6-month order of stay, meaning that the lawsuit would not resume until December 2024.
In late August, Netflix officially announced that the docuseries about Vince McMahon would premiere on September 25th and would cover the life and career of the former Chairman, including the allegations.
On September 19th, Grant’s attorney Ann Callis and Kendra Barkoff Lamy of PR firm SKDK, who is representing Janel Grant, held a virtual press briefing to address the ongoing lawsuit and the upcoming docuseries.
Janel Grant’s Team Comments On Vince McMahon
Callis provided an opening statement, once again confirming that Grant does not feature in the docuseries:
“Janel’s story is an important one, and we hope Netflix’s docuseries does it justice. Her experience is integral to an accurate and full re-telling of the story of the WWE and Mr. McMahon. While Janel didn’t participate in the Netflix docuseries, we hope it shines a light on the abhorent actions of McMahon, frequently on the WWE property, and it portrays the realities of his abusive and exploitative behavior. Many of the stories in the last few months have not portrayed her in the way she deserves to portrayed as a survivor of human trafficking and sexual abuse.” [Fightful]
The representatives then opened up to questions from the media. When asked if they anticipate further victims coming forward, Callis responded that they did anticipate others to come forward and received “an influx of calls”, but due to the non-public investigation that is ongoing, they have not spoken to any current victims of McMahon’s alleged sexual abuse. The previous $12 million in hush money payments were also referenced.
When asked if there has been an opportunity to view the documentary, Callis responded that they have not and that it is important for Grant to have the opportunity to tell her own story and not be a part of someone else’s:
“We have not seen the documentary. Janel deserves the opportunity to tell her full story, not be a part of someone else’s. She will get her day in court, and McMahon will be held accountable. Janel has the right to tell her story in her own way at the right time. Janel’s story is an important one, and we hope Neftlix’s docuseries does it justice. Her experience is integral to an accurate and whole retelling of the story of the WWE and Mr. McMahon.”
In regards to whether WWE has made contact with Grant’s team due to the lawsuit, it was stated that the outreach was “very brief”:
“There was some initial outreach right after the lawsuit was filed. Very brief, and we have really not heard anything since then.”
When the topic of the Netflix docuseries possibly whitewashing or exonerating current WWE employees was brought up, Callis responded that Grant will get her day in court and needs to tell her story in the right way at the right time.
When asked about the lawsuit and the pace that things have been moving, Callis was not frustrated at the speed of the process:
“I know these things take time. We want it to be right, not fast.”
The final question covered how the press has been covering the Grant lawsuit, to which Callis gave the following closing statement:
“Janel is a human being who deserves justice. She deserves her day in court. That’s our bottom line. She’s a victim and a survivor. She’s not a WWE storyline.”
Barkoff Lamy added the following when addressing how the story will be covered by the media:
“As we have seen in the press recently with what has come out with Puff Diddy and other folks. Human trafficking does take its toll and that’s exactly what happened to Ms. Grant. s people use this as part of their reporting I think it’s really important to note the emotional trauma she’s experienced. And add [that to] your thinking about how you want to frame your stories and how you want to report on this in the future.”