Garth Brooks accused of sexual assault and battery in lawsuit from hair-and-makeup artist who worked for him
A former employee whom Brooks claims requested assistance and turned on him once he was unable to provide further financial aid filed a lawsuit on Oct. 3
In a complaint initially filed anonymously on Sept. 13 in Mississippi, Garth Brooks alleges his rape accuser was attempting to extort him
He claims that he received a "demand letter" ahead of her lawsuit filed on Thursday, Oct. 3
According to Brooks, the accuser threatened to "publicly file" a suit against him with "fabricated allegations" unless he agreed to pay her millions of dollars
Garth Brooks claims his rape accuser is attempting to extort him, citing a "demand letter" he received ahead of her lawsuit alleging sexual assault and abuse filed Thursday.
In the country star's initially anonymous complaint, filed on Sept. 13 in Mississippi and obtained by PEOPLE, the country star claimed that the accuser — a makeup artist known as "Jane Roe" who worked with Brooks professionally for 15 years — had encountered "financial difficulties" upon her 2020 move from Tennessee to Mississippi and had asked him for assistance. While Brooks says he "complied" with Roe's financial requests out of "loyalty" and "friendship," the country star alleges the accuser's monetary demands then "increased."
When he refused to pay Roe more and meet her "demands for salaried employment and medical benefits, Brooks' complaint alleges he was met with "false and outrageous allegations of sexual misconduct" in a "confidential demand letter" from Roe's attorneys on July 17. The letter reportedly included allegations of "sexual grooming, creation of a sexually hostile work environment, unwanted sexual touching and sexual assault."
According to Brooks' complaint, the accuser threatened to “publicly file” a suit against Brooks with the same "fabricated allegations" unless he agreed to pay her millions of dollars. Allegedly, the letter referenced many "celebrity sexual misconduct lawsuits featuring multi-million dollar jury awards."
On Aug. 23, Brooks allegedly received a follow-up letter from his accuser offering to refrain from filing a suit against him in exchange for a multi-million dollar payout, claiming that should he not meet her demands, "he would face exposure of many millions of dollars 'based on [his] net worth.'"
Brooks alleges that Roe knows how publicly filing a suit would impact his "well-earned reputation" and damage his career and livelihood.
"Indeed, such knowledge no doubt explains why Defendant threatened to file suit through a “confidential” demand letter rather than simply filing suit to redress her alleged (but untrue) injuries." the complaint reads.
The "Much Too Young" musician is seeking a declaratory judgment that Roe's allegations against him of sexual misconduct are false, compensatory damages, punitive damages and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief.
The accuser, known as "Jane Roe," did in fact file a complaint in the Superior Court of the State of California – County of Los Angeles, which was obtained by PEOPLE, on Thursday, Oct. 3 accusing the country star of sexual assault and rape.
She claims the inappropriate behavior began in 2019 when she was at Brooks' home for a styling appointment. At that time, she allegedly found him emerging from the shower naked with an erection and forced her to touch his penis while requesting that she perform sex acts, according to her complaint. Later in 2019, Roe claims that she was physically dominated and raped by the "That Summer" artist while employed for an event.
During her employment, she allegedly experienced Brooks "regularly changing his clothing" in front of her and "often purposefully" exposing his genitals and buttocks, openly talking about sexual subjects in front of her, telling her his "sexual fantasies" and receiving "sexually explicit text messages" from him, she claims in the complaint.
Roe is requesting monetary and/or compensatory damages and punitive damages/exemplary damages.
"We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks," said Roe's attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker (HB Advocates PLLC) 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."
They added: "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 victimized to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence."
On Thursday evening, the country legend denied all accusations, saying he "is not the person she claims him to be."
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Brooks wrote, "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."
He added, "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."
"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. I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be," Brooks concluded
