Joint filing suggests Vince McMahon may avoid public trial in lawsuit

"

This was all-but-official yesterday (June 11) when the lawyers for Janel Grant, Vince McMahon, and WWE filed this “Joint Motion of Adjournment” with the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the parties respectfully submit this joint motion for a short adjournment of the upcoming hearing on Defendants’ Motions to Compel Arbitration and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion for Leave to Serve Motion-Related Discovery, which is currently scheduled for June 16, 2026. The parties are in active discussions regarding a potential agreement to arbitrate the dispute in confidential arbitration that would moot those motions. They seek this relief in good faith, to avoid unnecessarily consuming the Court’s and the parties’ resources—and so they can focus on progressing the potential arbitration agreement. The Parties respectfully propose that the Court temporarily adjourn the hearing and allow them to file a Joint Status Report within 21 days. One day after that was submitted to the bench of Judge Sarah F. Russell, she approved it. And with that, it becomes extremely unlikely we’ll learn much more about any of the abuse and sex trafficking allegations in Grant’s federal civil suit against McMahon and WWE. It also means we’re unlikely to ever hear much more on the matter on McMahon’s ex-girlfriend who alleges he groomed, abused, and then trafficked her to John Laurinaitis, the former WWE Chairman who denies all the allegations, or past and present employees of WWE, where Vince gave Grant a job, and which she says enabled his treatment of her and others with whom McMahon has signed non-disclosure agreements. The parties had been disputing the arbitration clause of Grant’s NDA with McMahon. Grant’s team argued she’d signed the agreement under duress, rendering the agreement moot. There were also other issues with terms and payment which could have impacted the Judge’s ultimate decision on whether the case would be settled privately or in court. But now that decision is out of Russell’s hands. Some WWE audiences, like the one that chanted “Thank you, Vince” at April’s WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, have already indicated McMahon isn’t unwelcome. With Grant’s case leaving the public eye, it now seems more likely he’ll eventually make some kind of return to the company he shaped and led for decades. Time will tell.

"

STAMFORD, CT - OCTOBER 16: Vince McMahon arrives at Stamford Superior Court on Thursday Morning, October 16, 2025, Stamford, Conn. (H. John Voorhees III/Connecticut Post via Getty Images) | CT Post via Getty Images Just days ago, a settlement agreement prevented Vince McMahon, Nick Khan and other key WWE and TKO figures from having to testify under oath in a shareholder lawsuit where McMahon and Khan had already been censured for destroying evidence. Now, in a move that could conceivably be linked to the evidentiary ruling against McMahon and company in the shareholder suit, it seems Vince will likewise avoid needing to answer any questions on the publicly-accessible record about former employee Janel Grant’s allegations he sexually trafficked and abused her during the course of their relationship as well. That’s the reasonable expectation in light of a joint filing made by Grant, McMahon, and co-defendant WWE today (Thurs., June 11) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. All parties now request to continue their litigation in private arbitration. In his reporting for Post Wrestling, Brandon Thurston writes: Judge Sarah F. Russell has not ruled on the motion, but courts rarely reject motions that all parties jointly request. McMahon and WWE have long pushed for arbitration. Grant’s attorneys meanwhile argued in their original 2024 suit that Vince violated the non-disclosure agreement he had with Grant which mandated all disputes be settled with a private arbitrator. He did so when he refused to pay the remainder of an agreed-upon settlement in 2022 because he claimed she violated the NDA via anonymous emails to the WWE Board of Directors (Grant just this week again denied sending the emails in question to the WWE Board). That was the key issue holding up a public trial. But that hold-up is now likely to be permanent. The joint filing doesn’t say why Grant changed her position and is now willing to settle the matter privately. Thurston notes that he hasn’t heard back from Grant’s legal team regarding his request for comment.

"

Janel Grant, Vince McMahon and WWE filed a joint motion that could lead to it being settled in private arbitration.