(AP) — Country music star Garth Brooks is being accused of rape and sexual assault in lawsuit filed Thursday.
An unnamed woman says she was repeatedly harassed by Brooks while working as his makeup artist and in 2019 was raped, adding that he tried to paint himself as a victim when he filed his own lawsuit against her last month.
In a statement provided late Thursday, Brooks denied the allegations. “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.”
According to the lawsuit filed by the woman’s attorneys in a California Superior Court, the woman, identified only as Jane Roe, had been contracted to do makeup for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, since 1999. She began experiencing financial difficulties in 2019, and she says Brooks helped by offering her more work.
The woman claims Brooks took advantage of her need for work. She says later in 2019 Brooks exposed his genitals to her. In another instance, Brooks allegedly raped her in a Los Angeles hotel suite while Brooks was preparing for a Grammy tribute.
“With cold disregard for Ms. Roe, when Brooks was finished, it was business as usual,” the complaint says. “Ms. Roe worked quickly to style his hair and do his make-up for the event so he was on time.”
The woman says Brooks claimed to get a cryptic text message after the alleged rape that said Brooks “ruined his life.”
At that point, she had not worked for Brooks for several months, leading Brooks to suspect the woman’s husband may have sent the text, the complaint says.
Brooks allegedly told the woman, “That’s what I thought. Oh crap! So, I was trying to seek you out to come talk … or whatever I needed to do, but just, uh, I don’t want to hurt anybody, man. And just … I just felt bad.”
Throughout her time working for Brooks, from 2017 to 2021, the woman claims he additionally sent her sexually explicit text messages, frequently changed clothes in front of her and groped her regularly while she worked on his hair and makeup.
She is suing for sexual battery and assault, and is requesting monetary and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and a jury trial.
Brooks filed a federal lawsuit against the woman last month, claiming she is trying to extort him for money and defame his character, in response to him not making her a salaried employee or paying for medical benefits.
He says the woman sent him a letter in July claiming she was sexually assaulted and that Brooks was plotting to kill her, according to his lawsuit.
Brooks claims he received another letter the next month, in which the woman said she would not go public with her filing if he paid her millions of dollars.
In his statement, Brooks said, “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.”
He is also requesting monetary and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and a jury trial, as well as a declaration from the court that the woman’s claims are false.
“I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be,” he said.
