Garth Brooks Names Rape Accuser in New Filing amid Sexual Assault Lawsuit He Calls 'Extortion' Attempt
The country star filed a pair of complaints in response to his former hairstylist and makeup artist's recent sexual assault allegations against him
Garth Brooks filed a pair of complaints on Oct. 8 in response to his former hairstylist and makeup artist's recent sexual assault allegations against him
In one of the complaints, the country star named his accuser
Brooks also referred to her lawsuit, filed Oct. 3, as an "extortion attempt"
Garth Brooks has named the woman who recently accused him of sexual assault and battery.
Last week, a lawsuit was filed against the country icon, 62, by his former hairstylist and makeup artist under the name "Jane Roe," who alleged Brooks displayed inappropriate behavior and raped her during their time working together. He responded with a pair of complaints filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on Oct. 8, and named the accuser while referring to her suit as an "extortion" attempt.
In one of the complaints, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE, Brooks' legal team stated they made the new filing "to obtain relief" from the defendant's "ongoing attempted extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress through outrageous conduct," claiming the "false" allegations "would irreparably harm Plaintiff’s reputation, family, career and livelihood."
Roe's legal team, Douglas H. Wigdor (Founding Partner Wigdor LLP), Jeanne M. Christensen (Partner Wigdor LLP) and Hayley Baker (HB Advocates PLLC) replied to Brooks' new filing in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
"Garth Brooks just revealed his true self," they wrote. "With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him. On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately."
Brooks' other complaint, filed under the pseudonym "John Doe," noted that he would “re-file his complaint without pseudonyms” against “Jane Doe,” since the woman’s attorneys “disclosed” his identity to the press.
The "Friends in Low Places" singer alleged Roe “devised a malicious scheme to blackmail” him into paying her “millions of dollars” following his rejection of "her request for salaried employment and medical benefits.” He also claimed that she “threatened” to “publicly disclose false claims” about him that would “imperil his business and reputation.”
In his court filing, Brooks further claimed the woman worked as an “independent contractor” for him for 15 years before relocating from Tennessee to Mississippi. After her move, he said, she “encountered financial difficulties” and asked him for assistance, which he claims he offered.
Eventually, Roe asked for a salary and benefits, per the documents, and Brooks denied her request. Then, he claims that she “responded with false and outrageous allegations of sexual misconduct she claims occurred years ago.”
Her allegations, including sexual “grooming,” “unwanted sexual touching and sexual assault” among others, were allegedly submitted in a “demand letter” to Brooks and “others” on his team on July 17, 2024.
The complaint alleges the "demand letter" marked Brooks' "first time" learning of the accusations, "none of which has any basis in fact."
Then, he claimed, Roe “threatened” to “publicly file” the letter — which he called “false and defamatory” — in a “draft civil complaint” against him unless he agreed to pay her “millions of dollars.” In the filing, he said she threatened that if he “failed to meet this demand” for payment, he “would face exposure of many millions of dollars ‘based on [his] net worth.’"
Brooks requested a trial as well as a “declaratory judgment” from the court stating her allegations “against him of sexual misconduct are untrue,” plus compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorney's fees.
Previously, the woman filed a complaint in California state court on Oct. 3 and alleged Brooks exposed his genitals to her, spoke openly about sex and related fantasies, changed clothes in her presence and sent sexually explicit text messages to her in 2019.
He publicly denied the allegations in a statement to PEOPLE: "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."
“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," Brooks' 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. It breaks my heart [that] 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,” he concluded.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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