John Laurinaitis Files to "Fight Allegations Together" With Vince McMahon Weeks After Claiming He Was Also a Victim

Laurinaitis was fired from WWE in 2022.

By Liam Crowley

Vince McMahon's personal issues have been boiling over into the public eye for nearly two years now. In June 2022, various sexual misconduct allegations led to McMahon stepping down from his positions as WWE Chairman and CEO. Just one month later, McMahon retired altogether. That retirement lasted just about six months, as McMahon would use his shareholding power to reinstate himself to the WWE Board of Directors in January 2023. McMahon's initial retirement did not go without consequence, however, as then-WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, an executive that McMahon passed his victim to "like a toy," was fired from the company in August 2022.

McMahon's latest WWE tenure stretched for roughly one year, as in January 2024 a new lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, one that accused McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking, led to McMahon resigning from WWE.

John Laurinaitis Backtracks, Rejoins Vince McMahon

JOHN-LAURINAITIS-VINCE-MCMAHON-WWE-SEX-TRAFFICKING-LAWSUIT
(Photo: WWE)

John Laurinaitis is taking Vince McMahon's side.

In a statement from Laurinaitis's legal team, the former WWE Head of Talent Relations has filed to "fight [Janel Grant's] allegations together" with McMahon.

"John Laurinaitis has filed a Motion today fully joining in and adopting Vince McMahon's motion to compel arbitration. Mr. Laurinaitis corroborates Mr. McMahon in publicly declaring that Ms. Grant's allegations of sexual abuse and coercion in her Complaint are completely unfounded," the statement reads. "My client will fight these false allegations together with Mr. McMahon in the proper forum, arbitration."

This backtracks Laurinaitis's original stance from just this past February, where his lawyer labeled Laurinaitis as a "victim" of McMahon's "power [and] control."

"Mr. Laurinaitis denies the allegations in the misguided complaint and will be vigorously defending these charges in Court, not the media," Laurinaitis' lawyer Edward Brennan said in a statement. "Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out. Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them."

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Within Grant's filed complaint, McMahon allegedly instructed Grant to "engage with Laurinaitis sexually, both physically and with explicit content." McMahon and Laurinaitis allegedly sexually assaulted Grant inside Laurinaitis's locked office in June 2021.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on this lawsuit.

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