Content Warning: This article contains discussions of sexual assault. Please read with care.
Garth Brooks is the second best-selling artist in United States history. He’s a pillar of country music, beloved by many. And he’s recently been accused of despicable acts.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Oct. 3, in California state court, a woman by the pseudonym “Jane Roe” alleges that the Grammy-winning singer raped her in 2019, and repeatedly sexually harassed her during her employment as his makeup artist between 2017 and 2020.
The suit was filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, which allows victims to report sexual crimes after the expiration of the statute of limitations for a limited time window ending in 2026. Brooks has denied all allegations, and claims the accuser has been trying to extort him for two months.
What was Garth Brooks accused of?
“Jane Roe” claims Brooks’s first assault came in 2019 when she was at his home for work and he emerged after a shower, naked and visibly aroused, then grabbed her hands and forced them onto his genitals. In May of that same year, the two traveled together on his private jet to a Grammy tribute in Los Angeles. He allegedly booked a one-bedroom suite, where he undressed and raped the makeup artist. Per the lawsuit, the alleged attack caused Roe so much physical and emotional pain that she had to seek treatment from her OB-GYN, and even considered suicide.
Roe continued to work for the musician, because a precarious financial situation wouldn’t allow her to turn any work away. The alleged harassment continued, as Brooks shared graphic sexual fantasies with the makeup artist, sent her inappropriate sex messages, and discussed sex toys with his wife, fellow country star Trisha Yearwood, in front of the accuser, and even proposed a threesome with the couple.
Brooks filed a preemptive lawsuit in September
With Roe’s lawsuit coming to light, news outlets have ascertained that another suit filed anonymously by “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee” in Mississippi federal court in September came from Brooks. In it, the country star accused Jane Roe of extortion, claiming she threatened to accuse him of sexual assault if he didn’t provide “salaried employment and medical benefits,” per the BBC.
In a statement released to the press, Brooks doubled down, claiming he has been “hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what [his] future would be if [he] did not write a check for many millions of dollars.” He continues by saying that he would never pay his accuser “hush money” because that would mean “admitting to behavior [he is] incapable of — ugly acts no human should ever do to another.”
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.”
One day after Roe filed her lawsuit, the “The Dance” singer took to the stage in Las Vegas for his residency at Caesars Palace’s The Colosseum, which started in May 2023 and will end in March 2025. “If there was ever a night that I really needed this, TONIGHT was that night! Thank you for my life,” he shared on his socials.
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.