Garth Brooks responds to claims he raped, sexually assaulted former makeup artist

Country superstar Garth Brooks has been accused of rape and sexual assault, according to a lawsuit obtained by ABC News.

The plaintiff, referred to throughout the court documents as Jane Roe, filed the lawsuit at the California Supreme Court in Los Angeles County on Thursday.

Jane Roe is identified in the lawsuit as a professional makeup artist and hairstylist with more than 30 years in the music industry who was first hired to do makeup and hair for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999.

Brooks responded to the allegations in a statement to ABC News on Thursday night.

“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,” his statement read. “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.”

The statement continued, “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,” the statement concluded. “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.”

Roe’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, issued a response to Brooks’ statement on Friday, saying the country singer’s claims he was “unwilling to pay millions” to settle the suit “is simply not true.”

“We are confident in our case and over time the public will see his true character rather than his highly curated persona,” Wigdor’s statement reads.

According to the lawsuit, Roe began her working relationship with Brooks, now 62, in 2017.

Roe says in the complaint she was hired by Brooks more often beginning in 2019 after he learned she was “experiencing financial difficulties.”

The plaintiff claims her working relationship with Brooks took a turn in May 2019 when she claims the Grammy-winning singer raped her on a professional trip to Los Angeles.

According to the lawsuit, Roe alleges she traveled to Los Angeles with Brooks and they were the “only two passengers” on his private jet. Once at their hotel, Roe says she learned that Brooks had “booked a hotel suite with one bedroom, and she did not have a separate room,” the lawsuit alleges.

Roe claims she felt “trapped” in the hotel room, where Brooks allegedly exposed himself and raped her.

“Brooks rape of Ms. Roe was painful and traumatic,” the court doc reads. “With cold disregard for Ms. Roe, when Brooks finished, it was business as usual. Ms. Roe worked quickly to style his hair and do his make-up for the event so he was on time.”

Roe is also accusing Brooks in the lawsuit of making multiple explicit remarks and advances she said were unwelcome, sexual assault in additional instances and sexual abuse.

“Eventually Ms. Roe was unable to continue working for Brooks and she sought legal counsel about what had happened,” the doc states. “In addition, in or about May 2021, Ms. Roe moved to Mississippi.”

In the lawsuit, lawyers for Roe pointed out that Brooks filed an anonymous lawsuit on Sept. 13, 2024, under the pseudonym John Doe.

According to the lawsuit obtained by ABC News, Brooks filed it to “obtain relief from Defendant’s ongoing attempted extortion, defamation” and “false allegations of sexual misconduct that would irreparably harm” his “reputation, family, career and livelihood.”

The plaintiff is demanding a trial by jury on all triable issues and seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and “further relief as the court may deem proper.”

In his lawsuit, Brooks is also demanding a trial by jury and compensatory and punitive damages.

“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks,” Roe’s attorneys, Wigdor and Hayley Baker, said in a statement Thursday. “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.”

“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,” Wigdor and Baker’s statement continued. “We encourage others who may have been victimized to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence.”