Garth Brooks Accused Of Sexual Assault

Allegations go public

Country music star Garth Books has been accused of sexual assault and battery in a lawsuit from a “Jane Roe” who says she worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist for the award-winning singer.

The complaint, filed in a state court in California on Thursday and obtained by CNN, states the alleged incidents occurred in 2019. She claims she was once raped by Brooks during a work trip.

Brooks had previously denied his accuser’s claims, though representatives for the country superstar did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment in response to Roe’s new lawsuit.

Prior to Roe’s filing and reported by CNN, an anonymous celebrity plaintiff – now disclosed to be Brooks – had tried to block Roe from publicly repeating her allegations and fiercely denied the claims, according to a previous complaint he had filed as a “John Doe.”

Roe began handling hair and makeup services for Brooks in 2017, according to her suit, which states that she was first hired to do hair and makeup for his wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999.

In addition to sexual assault and battery, the suit accuses Brooks of repeatedly exposing his genitals and buttocks; talking about sex and sharing sexual fantasies with Roe; regularly changing his clothing in front of Roe; and sending sexually explicit text messages.

Brooks and Trisha Yearwood

In a statement sent late Thursday to Billboard, Brooks denies the sexual assault allegations — saying the threats and accusations “felt like having a loaded gun waved in my face” — and confirms that he was behind last month’s mystery Mississippi filing, which he says was done anonymously “for the sake of families on both sides.”

“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 began his statement. 

“It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face. 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. 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.

On Thursday, Brooks told The Tennessean said he trusted the system.

"I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be," he said.