In January 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, had filed a lawsuit in Connecticut federal court against WWE, Vince McMahon, and John Laurinaitis. The complaint included allegations of sex trafficking against McMahon.
Last week, Grant made a rare public appearance at a briefing hosted by the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, where survivors, advocates, and legislators gathered to discuss workplace misconduct and the use of non-disclosure agreements.
Following that appearance, former WWE star Shelly Martinez reacted in a video published to her YouTube channel, offering strong criticism of Grant’s claims and public statements.
“I get Janel Grant and where she’s coming from. But I’m here to say it’s a choice, and she chose to have this arrangement with McMahon. She chose to go through certain things to get what she wanted at the end of the day.
And then where it really makes me mad is there are people out there that did not consent — men or women, I don’t care who. They did not consent. They get taken advantage of against their will, and then their jobs or whatever it is are now in jeopardy because they need to be quiet. Those stories exist, and a lot of those stories don’t get out there because they have to comply.
Because you’ve got all these Janel Grant out there trying to act like this little do-gooder when you knew it. You weren’t taken advantage of. It was very clear: you get X, Y, and Z, and this is what you have to do for it if you want to continue to have this thing. I’m sure he upped the ante every time they renegotiated.
And that’s when she wanted more things for herself that are going to be more expensive because now, to her, that transaction — that currency — it needs to match. ‘Oh, McMahon, you want me to do that now? Well then guess what? You’re getting me a BMW.’ That’s where you see the currency rise on both ends. It’s a deal. It’s a transaction.
And it makes me angry to no end that she is playing this part. And maybe she’s a plant — an industry plant. I don’t know. There’s also that twist. But either way, this video made me so mad to where I was goofing around in my head about how we could make light of the situation a little bit here on our show and make it different than everyone else. And then immediately Janel Grant took that away from me with her damn nonsense and what she had to say in that video.
And I’m a woman. I’m a woman that has had shtty, shtty, sh*tty things happen to me.
I don’t like that girl. I don’t like that girl.”
Martinez later doubled down on her comments, stating:
“Janel Grant is acting like a little btch that needs to get her ass beat. She needs to get her ass beat. And I’m not saying someone needs to go physically harm her, but life needs to physically beat her ass because she needs to know how that feels. Because this entitled little btch that has this list of demands and then now she’s over here flipping the script — unless I’m missing some kind of details.
And that’s what I kept thinking when I was watching it and getting mad. I was like, maybe I’m missing something. Maybe there was some shadiness that I’m missing here. I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, and nothing added up. Everything sounded like you are no longer getting your way. He was done with you. Now you’re probably too old for him and too much of a pain in the ass at this point, right? So you’re gone. You’re done. And you’re mad. That’s what it sounds like.”
Grant’s lawsuit remains ongoing, with legal proceedings continuing in federal court. WWE and McMahon have previously denied the allegations. Laurinaitis was dismissed from the suit in 2025 after reaching a confidential settlement agreement.
PWMania.com will continue to report on developments in this case as more information becomes available.
