Garth Brooks Accused of Rape

Garth Brooks has been accused of rape and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed this week. 

A former hairstylist and makeup artist for the country music star, identified as “Jane Roe” in the lawsuit, accused Brooks of raping her in a Los Angeles hotel room on a work trip in May 2019.

The alleged rape occurred during a work trip for a Grammy tribute event. According to the suit, obtained by CNN: “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.” 

The suit goes on to say that Brooks came out of the bathroom completely undressed and exposed and forced himself onto her.

The plaintiff made additional accusations that Brooks repeatedly exposed himself to the woman, sent explicit text messages, groped her while she worked on his hair and makeup, forced other unwanted touching, and openly discussed his sexual fantasies with her.

In the suit, the woman said she began working for Brooks in 2017. She previously had styled his wife, fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, as far back as 1999. She alleges that Brooks took advantage of her financial difficulties in 2019 by offering her more work, which led to increased sexual misconduct.

She is represented by Douglas Wigdor, who is known to file several lawsuits against Harvey Weinstein. The legal team provided a statement to USA Today. 

“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.”

In a statement, Brooks said, “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.”

In September, he says, he filed a lawsuit under the name John Doe in September against the woman. In that suit, Variety reports that the plaintiff said “the woman threatened to ruin his reputation by filing a sexual abuse lawsuit unless he gave her a multimillion dollar payout.”