Garth Brooks has addressed allegations of sexual assault made by a former employee, firmly denying any wrongdoing.
A woman identified as Jane Roe in court documents recently filed a lawsuit against the country music star, accusing him of sexual assault and battery.
Roe’s claims allege that Brooks raped her in a hotel room in 2019, and that he would grope her and make sexually explicit comments while she worked as his hairstylist and makeup artist between 2017 and 2020.
Garth Brooks Denies Sexual Assault Accusations
In her lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, Roe stated that the alleged instances of sexual assault became “so unbearable” that she contemplated suicide. The two-time Grammy winner has since responded to these allegations, dismissing the lawsuit as an extortion attempt for “millions of dollars.”
“For the last two months, I have been hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars,” Brooks said in a statement (via Independent). “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”
He continued: “Hush money, no matter how much or how little, is still hush money. In my mind, that means I am admitting to behaviour I am incapable of – ugly acts no human should ever do to another.”
Roe also claims in her lawsuit that she felt financially compelled to continue working for Brooks, who was allegedly aware of her financial struggles and exploited the situation.
“We Are Confident That Brooks Will Be Held Accountable”
Lawyers from Wigdor LLP, speaking on behalf of Roe, released a statement (via LBC): “We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks. The complaint filed today demonstrates that sexual predators exist not only in corporate America, Hollywood and in the rap and rock and roll industries but also in the world of country music.”
The statement continued: “We are confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions and his efforts to silence our client through the filing of a preemptive complaint in Mississippi was nothing other than an act of desperation and attempted intimidation. We encourage others who may have been victimised to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence.”
Prior to Roe’s lawsuit, Brooks filed an anonymous suit in Mississippi last month, seeking a judge’s order to stop the publication of “false allegations of sexual misconduct,” which he said would cause “irreparable harm to (his) reputation, family, career, and livelihood.”
Speaking to PA, Brooks commented on the accusations from his former employee: “I want to play music tonight. I want to continue our good deeds going forward. It breaks my heart these wonderful things are in question now,” he said.
“I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
