Janel Grant Attorneys Fire Back At Vince McMahon, Motion To Strike 'Inflammatory Lies'

Former WWE employee Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and the company itself took another turn Wednedsay as Grant's attorney, Ann Callis, has fired back on McMahon filing a motion to take the case out of public court and into private arbitration. McMahon's team denied the accusations Grant made in her suit, which included counts of sex trafficking, rape, and assault, while also questioning Grant's timeline of events. Callis responded with a motion to strike McMahon's claims.

"Instead of using his Motion in the appropriate manner — to raise legal arguments concerning whether this dispute must be submitted to arbitration — McMahon instead uses the Motion's "Preliminary Statement" as a platform to launch vicious falsehoods attacking Janel's moral character in a transparent attempt to harass and intimidate her into submission," the motion reads. "McMahon's easily refuted lies have no place in this case. It was not necessary, reasonable, or responsible to use a public filing to impugn Janel's moral character. Indeed, McMahon's desperate attempt to distract from the legal substance of the Motion highlight its weakness and the weakness of his overall case." The filing noted that Grant's initial motion to strike isn't a response to the merits of what McMahon's team said, and that she will be responding to the official motion in due time.

Later on Wednesday, McMahon's attorney, Jessica Rosenberg, gave a statement responding to Callis' motion.

"Plaintiff had no right to bring this case in a public court but did so anyway," Rosenberg said. "Now that she chose this public forum to falsely accuse Mr. McMahon, she wants to silence his ability to respond. She can't have it both ways."