Update on Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon – Nick Khan, Brad Blum, & Stephanie McMahon Identified as Key People in Lawsuit

As noted before, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit this past January against TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon accusing McMahon of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards her during her time in the company. McMahon officially resigned from TKO Group and WWE on January 26th over the fallout from this lawsuit.

Front Office Sports’ Tim Marchman, Post Wrestling’s John Pollock, and Wrestlenomics’ Brand Thurston reported that WWE President Nick Khan was one of the key people who have been recently revealed as one of the previously unnamed corporate officers in Grant’s lawsuit.

It was reported that Khan was identified to be “Corporate Officer No. 1” and WWE COO Brad Blum was identified as “Corporate Officer No. 2” in the lawsuit.

Khan and Blum are claimed in the lawsuit to have been instrumental in committing a scheme in which the plaintiff, Grant, was 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 accuse of Khan nor Blum committing sexual misconduct or violence but instead them and others of having facilitated and covered up the exploitation in ways that would make WWE liable under federal anti-trafficking law.

In a statement to Front Office Sports, a WWE spokesperson responded stating “WWE takes Ms. Grant’s allegations very seriously and has no tolerance for any physical abuse or unwanted physical contact. 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.”

This statement contradicts an earlier statement Khan made during an episode of the Bill Simmons Report podcast this past January where he stated “When you’re on the inside you sort of see things that might be coming and know what might be coming.”

In regards to how Khan and Blum and two other unnamed corporate executives were identified, it was reported that this was done by cross-checking the details of the suit against publicly available records such as online resumes and corporate filings, as well as information from sources spoken to within WWE. It was also reported that they had then asked Grant’s lawyer Ann Callis to find out if their reporting was accurate, which Callis responded back stating “I can confirm that these names are correct.”

Based on Grant’s lawsuit, McMahon had presented Blum and Khan to Grant as his key fixers and had arranged a meeting with Blum in March of 2019. Blum was stated to have “hardly asked any questions” during their meeting and before long she had been hired to a job in WWE’s legal department. The lawsuit also claims that in February of 2020, McMahon had told Grant that Blum had warned him “that there were a lot of rumors circulating” about their relationship. Following this warning, Grant was immediately transferred to another department.

In regards to the NDA signed by McMahon and Grant, it was reported that the lawsuit claims that McMahon had called Grant naming Blum as one of two people she should call if she ever needed anything. This phone call was the final call McMahon made to Grant.

In regards to Khan, it was reported that the lawsuit stated that in March of 2021, Grant had told McMahon that Khan had responded to her introducing herself in a corridor by telling her he knew exactly who she was. McMahon was stated to have told Grant later that day that he had a meeting with Khan and Blum and informed them of the nature of their relationship. McMahon also stated that the two had voiced their concerns to him and “inquired whether Grant could be trusted.” It was reported that a WWE spokesperson spoken to denied that this conversation ever happened. The lawsuit claims that McMahon had told Grant that the two “expressed concern but were ultimately supportive.”

The lawsuit also stated that Blum had informed Grant that she was being transferred to WWE’s talent relations department and would be reporting to then WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. It was reported that during the negotations for the NDA deal, Grant included Khan and Blum in a list of people whose rolses should be addressed in the agreement due to their knowledge of the relationship but this was something that was rejected.

It was reported that Grant’s lawsuit does not explicitly make any claims about whether Khan, Blum, or the other two unnamed corporate officers knew of any of the alleged acts of sexual violence or cruel and degrading treatment that was done to Grant.

In regards to the identities of the other two unnamed corporate officers, it was reported that Corporate Officer No. 3 was identified to be Stephanie McMahon. McMahon reportedly is only mentioned once in the lawsuit and in an ambiguous context.

Grant, the suit says, attended meetings of WWE’s executive committee—something far above her pay grade, and the appropriateness of which she asked Khan and Blum about. At one of these meetings, the suit says, Stephanie McMahon—who is described as knowing “of other instances of [Vince] McMahon engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct”—motioned Grant to sit near her. 

It was reported that three months after the NDA deal between McMahon and Grant was signed, then WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon had announced that she was taking a leave of absence from the company. It was reported that McMahon would return back to the company following her father’s first resignation to become WWE’s interim CEO and Chairwoman and held those roles until her father’s return in early of 2023. This reportedly led to her resignation days later from the company.

In regards to the other unnamed corporate officer, it was reported that Corporate Officer No. 4 was identified to be former WWE general counsel and head of WWE’s legal department Brian Nurse.

In the lawsuit, Nurse was stated to have offered Grant a job three hours following a call he had with her to “discuss a legal role” in the company. McMahon was stated to have told Grant the following day that he had ordered Nurse to offer her the job. This was also stated to have been the first incident of McMahon sexually assaulting Grant after he had put his hand down her pants without consent.

The suit describes the work environment in the legal department as distressing to the point that Grant was openly experiencing panic attacks in the office. She was never onboarded, it says, or given any clear responsibilities, and Nurse was “warm with other colleagues but cold with her” before becoming openly hostile—behavior his staff noticed, discussed with Grant, and in some cases emulated. Nurse, the suit says, would even stop and change directions if he saw her in a hallway, and he told at least one other executive that he knew or suspected the relationship between Grant and McMahon was sexual. ln February 2020, Grant was transferred to another division. In November ’20, Nurse was, the suit says, “terminated or asked to resign,” making him one of a number of employees it claims were “forced to resign or were let go if they knew of McMahon’s exploits and failed to assist, support and/or facilitate them.” Not long afterward, the suit says, Grant was transferred back to the legal department, before ultimately being transferred back to Laurinaitis’s talent relations department because her presence in the legal department was, McMahon told her, making it difficult to hire a new top lawyer.