Felix Upton on February 23, 2026
The Janel Grant situation just led to another explosive reaction — and this time it’s coming from former WWE talent Shelly Martinez.
After Grant delivered an emotional speech at a Capitol news briefing about her lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon, Martinez took to the “Too Much Information” podcast on February 23, 2026 — and she did not hold back. While Grant focused on the mental health toll of being publicly identified in 2022 and criticized the role of NDAs in workplace misconduct cases, Martinez challenged the core premise of Grant’s narrative. And instead of sympathy, she brought heat.
Martinez opened by acknowledging Grant may have gone through painful experiences — but quickly made it clear she doesn’t see the situation as one-sided.
“I have such an opinion on Janel Grant because even though it sucks, she probably is effed up and always will be over the different things that she went through.”
From there, Martinez framed the situation as a matter of personal choice — arguing that in the entertainment world, people often know what certain “assignments” require. She said everyone has limits, but those limits come with consequences.
“You know, the assignment — and there’s times that I lost opportunities or couldn’t level up in my career because I didn’t take a certain path. Everyone has their own story. Everyone has their own limits. Everyone has their own reasons.”
Martinez compared the situation to moments in her own life when she considered morally complicated paths for career advancement — including referencing environments where she knew what would be expected. That’s when she turned directly back to Grant.
“Like when I wanted to be a girl that gets to live at the Playboy Mansion, I knew what you had to do. I get Janel Grant and where she’s coming from. But I’m here to say it’s a choice — and she chose to have this arrangement with Vince McMahon. She chose to go through certain things to get what she wanted at the end of the day.”
Martinez repeatedly described the relationship as transactional — not coercive. She even suggested the dynamic evolved over time. And then she painted the picture in blunt terms.
“It was very clear: you get X, Y, and Z, and this is what you have to do for it if you want to continue to have this thing. I’m sure he upped the ante every time they renegotiated. Oh, McMahon, you want me to do that now? Well then guess what? You’re getting me a BMW. That’s where you see the currency rise on both ends. It’s a deal. It’s a transaction.”
But what really set Martinez off was Grant’s framing of herself as a victim. She contrasted that with real abuse victims, who never had a choice at all.
“What is here and there is that she is playing victim. And then where it really makes me mad is there’s people out there that did not consent. Real victims. Men or women, I don’t care who. They did not consent. They get taken advantage of against their will, and then their jobs or whatever it is are now in jeopardy because they need to be quiet.
Those stories exist, and a lot of those stories don’t get out there because they have to comply — because you’ve got all these Janel Grants out there trying to act like this little do-gooder when you knew it. You weren’t taken advantage of.
If you were taken advantage of — if you were a victim of something very serious here — I guarantee you, you wouldn’t be spitting out these little, kind of, you think-so-witty ways of transitioning your sentences.”
As the rant continued, she suggested Grant’s lawsuit may stem from losing leverage — not exploitation. And she doubled down.
“Everything sounded like you are no longer getting your way. What? That XYZ to me, I don’t even know what that is except that she’s upset that she got humiliated and she lost access to Vince McMahon.”
Martinez did say her view could change — if Grant publicly acknowledged participation in what she described as a mutual arrangement before explaining where things crossed the line. But as it stands?
“If she were to come forward and be like, ‘Look, I had this arrangement with him… but then this happened, and this is what my issue is,’ that would change the entire story for me. I still left with the same opinion — but worse — because now I’m mad.”
Grant’s lawsuit against McMahon and WWE is still moving forward. But with former WWE talent now publicly tearing into her narrative, this controversy just got louder — and a lot more personal.
So now the question is simple: is this a case of accountability being debated in real time, or has this crossed into something uglier? Sound off in the comments.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
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