Vince McMahon accuser agrees to pause lawsuit at Justice Department's request
Janel Grant sued the former head of WWE in January.
The woman who is currently suing ex-WWE boss Vince McMahon is pausing her lawsuit at the request of the Justice Department, according to the woman's lawyer.
Janel Grant, the former WWE employee who sued McMahon, the company and former WWE executive John Laurinaitis in January, agreed to pause her lawsuit.
"Ms. Grant has consented to a request by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to stay her case against Mr. McMahon, WWE and Mr. Laurinaitis, pursuant to a pending non-public investigation," Ann Callis, a lawyer for Grant, said in a statement to ABC News. "We will cooperate with all appropriate next steps."
ABC News previously reported that McMahon was the subject of a federal investigation.
The investigation stems from sexual misconduct accusations against McMahon by a number of women.
"Sometime in the summer," McMahon received a grand jury subpoena, the sources said, referring to summer of 2023.
A Justice Department lawyer who works in the Southern District of New York filed four items under seal in the civil case against McMahon brought by Grant. It is unclear what those items say.
McMahon, 78, announced in January, shortly after the lawsuit was filed, that he would step away from his role as TKO executive chairman and leave his spot on the TKO Board of Directors. TKO Group Holdings was formed when World Wrestling Entertainment merged with Endeavor's Ultimate Fighting Championship in April 2023.
At the time he stepped down, he said in a statement, "I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grant's lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth. I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name."
McMahon led the WWE for decades, taking over the wrestling organization in 1982 from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, and building it from a northeast regional promotion into a global company.