-- Former WWE employee Janel Grant launched a lawsuit against the company, Vince McMahon and others earlier this year and in her suit, several executives were anonymously named who may not have been directly involved in the sexual abuse allegations but may have known about them. Front Office Sports posted a story today where they identified four of those key officers. The lawyer for Grant confirmed to the outlet that the names are correct.
-- According to the report, "Corporate Officer 1" is current WWE President Nick Khan while "Corporate Officer 2" was identified in the story as WWE COO Brad Blum. While neither are personally accused of sexual misconduct, the suit claims that they "facilitated and covered up exploitation in ways that make WWE liable under federal anti-trafficking law." From the lawsuit, below is an excerpt which references "Corporate Officer 1" (Khan):
"Given that WWE Corporate Officer No. 1 a very high-ranking WWE officer and Ms. Grant was an entry-level coordinator in the legal department, it is unusual that WWE Corporate Officer No. 1 would know who Ms. Grant was at all at that point, except WWE Corporate Officer No. 1 knew of Ms. Grant at least in part by hearing about the ongoing exploitation of Ms. Grant by McMahon.
Following Ms. Grant's messages to McMahon on March 9, 2021, McMahon summoned Ms. Grant to his condo that evening for a conversation during which McMahon confirmed that WWE Corporate Officer No. 1, indeed, knew exactly who she was, as McMahon had met privately with WWE Corporate Officer No. 1 and WWE Corporate Officer No. 2 and advised these individuals of McMahon's connection to Ms. Grant."
-- "Corporate Officer 3" was identified as former WWE CEO Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. She is briefly mentioned in the lawsuit as waving over Janel Grant to sit with her during a meeting but was implied to have known about other instances of sexual misconduct that her father, Vince McMahon, was engaging in or had engaged in.
"Additionally, WWE Corporate Officer No. 3, another high-ranking WWE official and member of the WWE Board of Directors at the time of Ms. Grant's employment with WWE, motioned for Ms. Grant to sit in a chair near WWE Corporate Officer No. 3 at the Boardroom Table during one of the meetings. Upon information and belief, WWE Corporate Officer No. 3 knew of other instances of McMahon engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct."
-- "Corporate Officer 4" was identified as former head of WWE's legal department, Brian Nurse. He was apparently ordered by McMahon to hire Grant but was otherwise not identified as someone who participated in any sexual assault but was said to be "cold" towards Grant.
"Based on her hiring alone, WWE Corporate Officer No. 4 was on notice that there was something different about Ms. Grant; namely, her connection to McMahon. As Ms. Grant feared (and had expressed to McMahon), she was unhappy that a spotlight was unnecessarily put on her before she ever set foot in the office. Ms. Grant immediately noticed that WWE Corporate Officer No. 4 was warm with other colleagues but cold towards her."
-- WWE released a statement in response to the article:
"WWE takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact. Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 2024, were aware of any allegation by Ms. Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such."
