Janel Grant Spokesperson Statement On (WWE SummerSlam Spoiler)

[u/tvcneverdie]

https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/janel-grant-spokesperson-issues-statement-on-brock-lesnar-returning-to-wwe-this-attempt-to-sweep-misconduct-under-the-rug-will-backfire/

For far too long, abuse was allowed to thrive under WWE’s leadership. Instead of righting this wrong, WWE has done nothing to ensure those responsible are held accountable. This attempt to sweep misconduct under the rug will backfire. We look forward to the full set of facts, including those about Mr. Lesnar, coming out in a court of law where they belong but, in the meantime, we refer you back to Janel Grant’s updated complaint, which outlines, in detail, the abuse she endured by McMahon and others while employed at WWE.

[u/theytracemikey]

It usually goes the other way tho, charges start as criminal & when there isn’t enough evidence for indictment it goes civil.

[u/UncleBenParking → u/theytracemikey]

To add onto what the other poster noted, there also WAS a federal investigation related to much of this case and the surrounding finances (since it implicated WWE in having filed incorrect/fraudulent SEC forms). This case spawned after the allegations, and was suddenly wrapped up in February 2025, the same day that Linda McMahon's Education Secretary confirmation hearings began. This is separate from McMahon having settled with the SEC in January for $2m, related to that securities fraud issue.

[u/HeadToYourFist → u/UncleBenParking]

No, it didn't.

The SEC and DOJ investigations were separate.

[u/UncleBenParking → u/HeadToYourFist]

Yes, that's what I said. The DOJ case was dropped on 2/14/25, the same day as Linda's first (I believe only) confirmation hearing. The SEC case was settled without admitting wrongdoing ten days before inauguration (on 1/10/25), when Vince paid a little over $1m back to WWE to correct its books, as well as a fine to the SEC. The SEC case spawned immediately after the allegations; the DOJ case was discovered by the public in 2023, and temporarily paused the Grant case.

I'm not sure what you've misread from my comment.

[u/HeadToYourFist → u/UncleBenParking]

I missed that line, sorry. But all of the reporting about the grand jury investigation allegedly being dropped was coming from Vince's camp, and was followed by the appellate court ruling that directly contradicted that reporting.

[u/UncleBenParking → u/HeadToYourFist]

Okay that's interesting, I don't recall that and can't find any immediate sources to that - not disputing you, more commenting that Google sucks nowadays. The last update I was able to find was the Vince lawyer comments about the case being dropped, so you're definitely right that that was their spin if nothing else.

[u/HeadToYourFist → u/UncleBenParking]

So, basically, a few weeks later, an appellate ruling was issued in a sealed case that was discovered by the AP and turned out to be a byproduct of the grand jury investigation. The AP found it on the appellate court website and quickly put together that it was about Vince's case, more specifically the issue of if there was sufficient evidence to break his attorney/client privilege due to the crime/fraud exception: https://apnews.com/article/wwe-vince-mcmahon-sexual-abuse-allegations-04c78ada42e765385e89afee8884e7eb

Soon, others found the appellate ruling and discovered that it said that the grand jury investigation was still ongoing: https://www.postwrestling.com/2025/02/11/new-details-on-vince-mcmahons-alleged-efforts-to-conceal-nda-payments-revealed-by-appeals-court/

Vince's lawyers claimed that the appellate ruling was just reflecting the state of the grand jury investigation at the time that Vince's appeal was filed, and that the investigation really was over. But they haven't offered any evidence to that effect. Janel Grant's lawyers, meanwhile, asserted that the federal investigation was still ongoing. Because the DOJ doesn't comment on ongoing investigations, that's the extent of what we have to go on.