A top WWE executive reportedly quit after being identified in a bombshell sex trafficking lawsuit filed by a former employee against wrestling mogul Vince McMahon.
WWE Chief Operating Officer Brad Blum, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit that alleged McMahon defecated on the subordinate’s head, resigned Wednesday, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Janel Grant, the onetime WWE employee, filed suit in January alleging she was sexually assaulted by McMahon and another executive, John Laurinaitis.
The complaint also made reference to “Corporate Officer No. 2” — who was identified as Blum, according to Front Office Sports.
The lawsuit alleges that Corporate Officer No. 1 — previously identified by The Post as WWE President Nick Khan — and Corporate Officer No. 2 arranged for Grant to be employed “in a completely undefined role, except for the understanding that she remain a sexual slave to be used and trafficked by McMahon within the WWE.”
The lawsuit does not make any claims that Blum knew about the alleged sexual abuses.
The Post has sought comment from Blum, WWE and its parent company TKO Group.
In March, WWE said in a statement that “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.”
McMahon, who stepped down as WWE CEO after Grant filed suit, has denied the allegations, claiming that their relationship was consensual.
Last month, it was learned that Grant wrote McMahon a “love letter” in which she declared that she was “in love with a capital L.”
Grant later claimed that she was coerced into writing the letters.
McMahon’s attorneys also alleged in a court filing that Grant would sneak into her then-boss’ penthouse apartment in the Stamford, Conn. condominium building in which they both lived to have sex before slinking back to her fiancé’s place located just a few floors down.
Grant’s lawyer Ann Callis said her client and attorney Brian Goncalves had called off their engagement and that he “allowed her to stay in the apartment as she rebuilt her life.”
McMahon’s filing last month also alleged that Grant fabricated aspects of her life story — including lying about “devoting years to around-the-clock caregiving” of her dying parents and “struggling financially” when they met.
“Vince McMahon has never known a storyline that he doesn’t twist to fit his own shameful narrative,” Callis told The Post last month.
On Thursday, Laurinaitis, 61, filed a motion in Connecticut federal court in which he sided with McMahon — even though he initially appeared to back Grant and claimed that he, too, was a “victim.”
“John Laurinaitis has filed a Motion today fully joining in and adopting Vince McMahon’s motion to compel arbitration,” attorney Edward Brennan said in a statement.
“Mr. Laurinaitis corroborates Mr. McMahon in publicly declaring that Ms. Grant’s allegations of sexual abuse and coercion in her Complaint are completely unfounded.”
Laurinaitis “will fight these false allegations together with Mr. McMahon in the proper forum, arbitration,” according to Brennan.
McMahon’s attorney, Jessica Rosenberg, released a statement on Thursday saying that Grant was “in love” with the then-WWE boss” and that she was “devastated by their break-up.”
Grant “filed an outrageous and false lawsuit to ruin Mr. McMahon’s career and reputation,” Rosenberg said.
“Now, her false allegations are slowly unraveling.”
Grant’s representatives declined to comment.
In February, Brennan made it seem as if Laurinaitis had backed Grant’s account.
“Mr. Laurinaitis denies the allegations in the misguided complaint and will be vigorously defending these charges in Court, not the media,” Brennan told VICE News in February.
“Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out.”
In her lawsuit, Grant alleged that Laurinaitis was “recruited” by McMahon to join them in threesomes.
McMahon is also alleged to have “pressed Ms. Grant to make explicit photos and videos to send to Laurinaitis.”
Grant alleged that she was told to pick up a key to Laurinaitis’ hotel room and to serve herself to him as “breakfast” before the start of work, according to the lawsuit.
After Blum told Grant that she would be moved to a department where she would report directly to Laurinaitis, McMahon is alleged to have “constantly reinforced the expectation” to her that she “sexually perform for him and her new boss…both in and out of the office,” the complaint said.
“Do U promise to make me proud Baby? Will U show him what a Porno Star U can B. Will
U Show Off for me like never before ????” McMahon is alleged to have texted to Grant on March 22, 2021, according to the lawsuit.
The same text message allegedly continued: “On days when [Laurinaitis is] in town, I want him to f–k U every morning and later In the office too.”
Grant alleged in her court filing that McMahon and Laurinaitis took her into Laurinaitis’ office, locked the door, and “cornered her and pulled her in between them” and “forcibly touched her, before ultimately putting her on top of a table in between them.”
Here’s the latest on the sex trafficking lawsuit against Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon
- Vince McMahon accuser Janel Grant texted him ‘asking for rough sex, fantasized about being held down’: lawsuit
- WWE COO Brad Blum resigns in wake of Vince McMahon sex trafficking lawsuit: report
- Vince McMahon accuser Janel Grant wrote ‘love letter’ to ex-WWE CEO after alleged sex abuse — but claims she was coerced
“She begged them to stop, but they forced themselves on her, each taking turns restraining her for the other, while saying ‘No means yes’ and ‘Take it, bitch’,” it was alleged in Grant’s lawsuit.
Grant was employed by McMahon at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Conn., between June 2019 and March 2022.
She sued to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement that she signed in which she made her bombshell allegations.
Grant alleged she had received $1 million of the $3 million payout but McMahon withheld the next installment, scheduled to be disbursed in February of last year, which prompted her to file the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accused McMahon of defecating on her head during a threesome and using sex toys on her that he named after wrestlers — claims that McMahon has called “salacious,” “false,” and “pure fiction.”
Days after the lawsuit was filed, McMahon resigned from his role as executive chairman of TKO Group, the corporate parent born out of the merger between WWE and Zuffa, the subsidiary of Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor agency which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship series.
In July 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon paid more than $12 million to four different women over a period of 16 years to keep them from speaking out about alleged sexual misconduct.
