Former WWE wrestlers, Nikki and Brie Garcia are getting candid about the recent allegations against Vince McMahon and WWE.
The sisters, who were previously a part of the WWE under the stage name The Bella Twins and left the company last year, shared a joint statement on their respective Instagram accounts about the recent allegations of sexual assault against the company, along with its co-founder Vince McMahon and WWE executive John Laurinaitis, by a former employee.
“We are shocked and disheartened with the recent allegations against members of the WWE,” the Garcia twins said Monday in their Instagram post. “It has been a lot to process since we found out this past week, just as you all did”
“This is something we don’t stand for or condone from anyone no matter who they are,” the sisters, who are also stepdaughters to Laurinaitis, added. “We want all women to feel safe and supported in the workplace and in their everyday lives.”
The statement comes a few days after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit claiming that she experienced “physical and emotional abuse, s€xual ass@ult and trafficking” while working at the company.
Among her claims in the court documents, she alleged that McMahon “pushed” her for “a physical relationship” in exchange for her employment at the WWE and that he had recruited John Laurinaitis to have “s€xual relations” with her as well.
The woman said she was let go from the company after McMahon’s wife found out about their relationship in January 2022 and he had her sign an NDA “in exchange for payments.” However, after her employment was terminated, she claimed in the complaint that he still tried to “traffic” her to a WWE star.
A spokesperson for WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings told NBC News, “Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter pre-dates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”
Nikki and Brie previously announced on their Sirius XM show, The Nikki & Brie Show, in March, 2023 that they made the difficult decision to leave the company after 16 years as they felt that it was time to embrace a “new chapter” in their lives as mothers, entrepreneurs, hosts and executive producers.