Garth Brooks has been accused of sexual assault and battery by a woman who says she worked as his hairstylist and makeup artist.
The woman, identified as “Jane Roe,” filed the complaint on Thursday, October 3. According to CNN, the woman claims Brooks, 62, raped her during a 2019 work trip. Brooks previously denied the accuser’s claims. Us Weekly has reached out to him for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Roe began working for the country star in 2017 after initially being hired to do hair and makeup for his wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999. In addition to sexual assault and battery, Roe claims that Brooks sent her sexually explicit text messages, repeatedly exposed his genitals and buttocks to her and discussed his sexual fantasies in front of her. Roe described one alleged 2019 incident in which she claims Brooks walked out of the shower naked and “grabbed her hands and forced them” onto his genitals.
Roe further claimed that Brooks made “repeated remarks” about “having a threesome” with Yearwood, 60, whom Brooks wed in 2005.
Prior to Roe’s filing, Brooks anonymously filed a complaint attempting to block Roe from repeating her allegations and vehemently denying the claims.
“Defendant’s allegations are not true,” the filing claimed. “Defendant is well aware, however, of the substantial, irreparable damage such false allegations would do to Plaintiff’s well-earned reputation as a decent and caring person, along with the unavoidable damage to his family and the irreparable damage to his career and livelihood that would result if she made good on her threat to ‘publicly file’ her fabricated lawsuit.”
Roe’s attorneys called Brooks’ “efforts to silence” their client “nothing other than an act of desperation and attempted intimidation” in a statement shared with CNN.
“We are confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions,” attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker’s statement continued. “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.”
Roe claimed in her lawsuit that the alleged 2019 rape took place when she and Brooks traveled together to Los Angeles where Brooks was filming a Grammys tribute performance.
“Usually there were others on Brooks’ private jet, but this time Ms. Roe and Brooks were the only two passengers,” the filing claims. “Once in Los Angeles at the hotel, Ms. Roe could not believe that Brooks had booked a hotel suite with one bedroom and she did not have a separate room.”
Once at the shared hotel suite, Roe alleges that Brooks “appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, completely naked,” making her feel “trapped.”
The bombshell lawsuit comes less than 24 hours after Yearwood shared Instagram photos of herself and Brooks performing together in Las Vegas. Brooks has been known to publicly praise his wife whenever he gets an opportunity.
“I feel so helpless because there’s nothing I can’t do without her,” the musician exclusively told Us of Yearwood in August 2023. “There’s nothing I can’t do with her and there’s nothing I can do without her. It’s a blessing and a curse that you feel so free and independent when she’s there and you’re so dependent when she’s not there … I don’t think she feels this way at all, but I know I do.”
Prior to his relationship with Yearwood, Brooks was married to Sandy Mahl from 1986 to 2001. The former couple share daughters Taylor, 32, August, 30, and Allie, 28.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
