Earlier today, it was reported that Slim Jim, a long-time sponsor of pro wrestling, had pulled its sponsorship of the Royal Rumble. The news comes in the wake of a disturbing report by the Wall Street Journal detailing allegations against Vince McMahon by a former WWE employee, Janel Grant. Among the allegations, Grant says that McMahon groomed her into becoming someone who could be sex trafficked to WWE executives and stars.
The suit names John Laurinitis and Brock Lesnar explicitly as people McMahon pimped her out to. McMahon, through his lawyers, has issued a statement denying the allegations. Brock Lesnar is rumored to be out of tomorrow’s men’s Royal Rumble match.
In a follow-up, POST Wrestling reached out to Slim Jim for a statement on the earlier report and received the following response.
Slim Jim values integrity and respect in all of our partnerships. Given the recent disturbing allegations against Vince McMahon, at this time we’ve decided to pause our promotional activities with WWE. This decision reflects our commitment to our brand values and responsibility to our community.
We will continue to monitor the situation and base our future engagements on our values and what’s best for our brand.
Earlier today at the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble media junket, I asked Nia Jax about the allegations against McMahon and if it affected her mentality heading into the big weekend.
“Oh, it doesn’t, you know, I’m all business,” she began. “And, you know, this business is built on hard work and dedication, and that’s what every single wrestler in this room is doing right now, and so we just move forward. And it’s, you know, and we’re gonna put on an amazing show.”
We will be releasing our full 2024 WWE Royal Rumble interview with Jax next week.