A new lawsuit filed in California state court alleges that country star Garth Brooks sexually assaulted and battered a hair and makeup artist working for him.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 3, 2023, by a “Jane Roe” alleges that the incidents happened over the course of several years while Roe was working for Brooks.
In the 27-page lawsuit, 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.
Brooks did not respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
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.
“(Roe’s) false allegations and her threats to wrongfully assassinate (Doe’s) character through the public airing of such revulsive and untrue allegations have caused (Doe) emotional distress including anxiety and fear for himself and his family,” the Mississippi complaint reads. “(Roe’s) attempted extortion of (Doe) for millions of dollars through such untrue, lewd allegations constitutes intentional, outrageous conduct that was intended to and did in fact cause (Doe) serious mental injury, amounting to an intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
TODAY.com has not been able to confirm with Brooks’ team that the country singer is John Doe in the Mississippi filing. Doe’s 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.”
