Garth Brooks is seemingly speaking out for the first time after a lawsuit was filed against him alleging that he sexually assaulted and battered his former hair and makeup artist.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 3, 2024, by a “Jane Roe,” alleges that the assault and battery happened over the course of several years while she was working for Brooks, who has denied the accusations.
Brooks publicly addressed the lawsuit in his “Inside Studio G” fan chat on TalkShopLive on Oct. 7.
“A lot’s happened in the last two weeks. Let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we?” the singer said.
He continued, “This thing is on, it’s gonna happen, and people are telling me it could be up to two years. OK? So, my suggestion is, well, take a deep breath, we all just kind of settle in and let’s hold hands and take the trip together, because it is something that you cannot talk about. That’s all we can say about it.”
Brooks then reiterated that he would not provide a further comment about the lawsuit during the livestream.
“So for those who joined us tonight to hear about that, I bid you a wonderful rest of your night, ’cause that’s the last we can say about it,” he told viewers.
In the 27-page lawsuit obtained by TODAY.com, Roe makes several allegations against the country singer. She alleges that in 2019, Brooks forced her to touch his erect penis while she was at his home to style his hair. That same year, Roe alleges, Brooks brought her to Los Angeles to style him for an event and then raped her in a hotel room.
Roe’s suit also accuses Brooks of repeatedly exposing his genitals and buttocks to her, talking about sex, sharing sexual fantasies and sending sexually explicit text messages.
The lawsuit goes on to say that Brooks attempted to cover up his alleged harassment of Roe, going as far as to surreptitiously take her phone and delete explicit texts he’d sent her.
The lawsuit notes that Roe first worked for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, starting in 1999 and only started working for Brooks himself in 2017. Roe moved to Mississippi in 2021, the lawsuit says.
In a statement, Roe’s legal team — Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen, and Hayley Baker — said that Brooks tried to “silence” Roe with a preemptive complaint in Mississippi.
The Sept. 13, 2024, Mississippi complaint was filed by a “John Doe” who is a “celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee.” In the filing, Doe alleged that Roe is lying to extort him for money and to damage his reputation. The Mississippi complaint also alleged that Roe threatened to file her complaint in California only because Doe refused to give her a raise and pay for health insurance.
In a statement to TODAY.com on Oct. 3, Brooks’ team confirmed he was the Doe in the Mississippi complaint.
“(Roe’s) false allegations and her threats to wrongfully assassinate (Brooks’) character through the public airing of such revulsive and untrue allegations have caused (Brooks) emotional distress including anxiety and fear for himself and his family,” the Mississippi complaint reads. “(Roe’s) attempted extortion of (Brooks) for millions of dollars through such untrue, lewd allegations constitutes intentional, outrageous conduct that was intended to and did in fact cause (Brooks) serious mental injury, amounting to an intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
In his statement to TODAY.com, Brooks said he’s been “hassled to no end” ahead of Roe’s filing.
“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. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face,” Brooks said. “Hush money, no matter how much or how little, is still hush money. In my mind, that means I am admitting to behavior I am incapable of — ugly acts no human should ever do to another.”
The statement continues, “We filed suit against this person nearly a month ago to speak out against extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of families on both sides.”
“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,” Brooks’ statement concludes. “I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
Brooks’ complaint is seeking damages, “a declaratory judgment that Defendant’s allegations against him of sexual misconduct are untrue,” an injunction to stop Roe from filing her suit, and a jury trial.
Roe’s lawsuit is seeking damages and a jury trial.
“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks,” Roe’s legal team wrote in a statement. “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.”
“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,” the statement concludes. “We encourage others who may have been victimized to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence.”
Hours after the news of the lawsuit broke, Brooks shared a post to his Instagram page.
“If there was ever a night that I really needed this, TONIGHT was that night!” he wrote in the caption.
Brooks performed in Las Vegas on Oct. 3.
He concluded his post by writing, “Thank you for my life!!!!!”
CORRECTION (Oct. 4, 2024, 8:39 a.m.): An earlier version of this story misstated the date the lawsuit was filed. It was filed Oct. 3, 2024, not Oct. 3, 2023.
