Janel Grant, who filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon detailing allegations of SA and trafficking said in a new interview that she holds feelings of forgiveness and empathy toward the former WWE chairman.
Speaking with Post Wrestling, Grant was asked what feelings she has towards McMahon. She said her answer was forgiveness and empathy, and acknowledged that response might sound unusual given everything she has alleged.
Grant stated, “Forgiveness. I don’t know how else to describe it, other than there’s something that does not take up space in my brain.”
Grant described herself earlier in the interview as a very empathetic person. She said that despite the series of events representing a dark time in her life, she found herself relating to McMahon even in her darkest moments.
She noted, “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 [the] decision-making that I can’t sit still and process.”
Grant recounted that during the period when everything happened to her, she experienced the kind of feeling where she questioned whether she even wanted to be around the next day.
Grant has spoken previously about having thoughts about ending herself connected to what she went through. She said that when she had those feelings, an empathetic part of her considered that McMahon might feel the same way.
The controversy surrounding McMahon first came to the WWE board’s attention in 2022, when anonymous emails raised concerns about his relationship with Grant and his alleged conduct toward her. Grant has denied having any role in sending those messages.
A subsequent board investigation uncovered multiple nondisclosure agreements, including one involving Grant, which she has since disputed as legally enforceable. Allegations involving more than $14 million in NDAs and claims of misconduct contributed to McMahon’s initial departure from WWE in July 2022.
His return was later followed by Grant’s lawsuit, which alleged SA and trafficking and ultimately preceded his permanent resignation in January 2024.
McMahon has consistently rejected Grant’s allegations, describing them as false and defamatory. The legal dispute has since moved away from open court proceedings. In July 2026, Grant agreed to have her lawsuit against McMahon and WWE resolved through private arbitration rather than a public trial.
