Janel Grant Stuns WWE World By Saying She Now Feels Forgiveness Toward Vince McMahon

Janel Grant gave her first major interview about her lawsuit against Vince McMahon on Monday, speaking to POST Wrestling and Wrestlenomics in a wide-ranging conversation that covered who she is as a person and how she has processed the past four years. The wrestling world went quiet when it got to a specific moment near the end: when asked what she feels toward McMahon today, Grant did not say anger, hatred or fear.

"Forgiveness," she said. "I don't know how else to describe it, other than there's something that does not take up space in my brain. I feel even empathy, because in a weird way, and this is extreme polar opposites, the thing that might... the series of events that caused The Journal story to happen, whatever it was, it equally impacted him. There are so many people involved in decision-making that I can't sit still and process. Instead, what occupies my brain is whatever series of events and decision-makers caused the anonymous emails to happen or The Wall Street Journal story to happen, and the events that have played out since, however they have played out."

What Janel Grant's Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon Alleged

Grant filed her federal lawsuit against McMahon, WWE and then-executive John Laurinaitis in January 2024, accusing McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and sex trafficking during her time as a WWE employee between 2019 and 2022. McMahon resigned from his position as executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings shortly after the lawsuit was filed. He has denied the allegations and characterised the relationship as consensual. Laurinaitis was later dropped from the lawsuit after reaching a confidential settlement and agreeing to cooperate with Grant's legal team. The federal case moved to private arbitration in July 2026, ending the public court proceedings while leaving the dispute ongoing in a confidential setting.

Janel Grant's Life and Advocacy Since the Lawsuit

Grant noted in the interview that when the Wall Street Journal story first broke in June 2022, her very first instinct was to ask her attorney whether McMahon was okay. She described empathy as a lifelong superpower, one that has carried her through this experience in ways she did not anticipate.

Since filing her lawsuit, she has become an advocate for NDA reform in Connecticut. On September 11 she received the Advocacy in Action Award from the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence. The case remains in private arbitration. McMahon has not publicly responded to Monday's interview.