In a new interview with POST Wrestling and Wrestlenomics, attorney and former judge Ann Callis said the release of the love letter written by her client, former WWE employee Janel Grant, to Vince McMahon is an attempt to intimidate and victim-shame Grant.
The letter was initially published this past Monday in a report from The New York Post.
Grant is suing Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis in Connecticut federal court in a sex trafficking and sexual abuse lawsuit that she and her attorney filed this past January.
The complaint contains very explicit and graphic allegations of sexual assault and sexual abuse. In the suit, Grant claims that she was facilitated into an abusive relationship between herself and then WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. In addition, she claims in the suit that she was then trafficked to now former WWE Executive John Laurinaitis with a sexual encounter. This was said to be was Wrestlenomics described as a “bargaining chip for renewing Brock Lesnar’s talent contract with WWE.”
The letter mentions names of individuals on a first name basis only, who allegedly spent time with her and McMahon when they were together.
McMahon’s attorney responded to the now published love letter and asserts the letter shows the relationship between his client and Grant was consensual.
In the December 2021 letter, Grant wrote: “Whether it’s your assistants, a chef, Brad, Nick, Johnny or whoever see us together, I think it’s undeniable to them.”
Wrestlenomics also notes that Callis said in the interview that it is “fair to assume” that Grant is referring to current WWE President Nick Khan and Chief Operating Officer Brad Blum, who are confirmed to be the anonymized executives referred to in Grant’s lawsuit as “WWE Corporate Officer No. 1” and “WWE Corporate Officer No. 2”, respectively.
WWE has denied Khan and Blum were aware of any allegations of abuse or physical harm involving Grant before her lawsuit was filed. During an appearance on The Town with Matthew Belloni, Khan called the allegations “horrific.”
Grant’s letter also refers to other people who were aware of the relationship. Mickey, Paul and the Chef. Callis said the “Paul” is actually Paul Mangieri, who works as an executive assistant for WWE and Mickey Mangieri also worked as an assistant to McMahon.
It was noted that the mention of “Paul” in Grant’s letter did lead to speculation if Grant was referring to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. This is not the case. When asked, if Levesque was aware of the relationship between Grant and McMahon before the WWE Board of Directors was alerted back in March 2022 of Grant’s claims of misconduct. Callis told POST Wrestling and Wrestlenomics that she could not comment on that, as there are witnesses still coming forward.
Callis stated victims are frequently pressured by their abusers to write love letters. This is a pattern of behavior which is supported by experts in sexual assault and coercive control. Callis further states she has been meeting with experts regarding the letter.
The full article and the interview are available at Wrestlenomics.