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In a new legal filing, country singer Garth Brooks has publicly named a former employee who last week sued the musician for rape in a civil lawsuit.
Brooks, 62, on Tuesday told the U.S. District Court in Mississippi the woman’s allegations are part of an “ongoing attempted extortion” meant to defame him and inflict emotional distress. He said he is “the victim of a shakedown.”
The woman, identified as “Jane Roe” in legal filings prior to Tuesday, said the singer raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2019. Lawyers for the woman told the Los Angeles Times that Brooks outed her identity “with no legal justification because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him.”
“Garth Brooks just revealed his true self,” said lawyers Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker.
Jane Roe told the court she was employed as a makeup and hair stylist for Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, from 1999 to 2021.
Throughout two years of her employment, the woman claims Brooks numerous times exposed his genitals to her, groped her body and sent her sexually explicit text messages. Roe said she continued to work for Brooks due to personal financial hardship, which he was aware of.
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Global News typically does not name accusers of sexual assault unless they have come forward to identify themselves first.
Prior to the woman’s civil lawsuit against Brooks, filed in a California superior court, the Friends in Low Places singer sued her for alleged extortion. The lawsuit was filed anonymously in Mississippi and called Brooks “John Doe,” as well as “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee.”
Brooks told the court he’s been falsely accused of sexual assault by Jane Roe, who threatened legal action unless provided “a multimillion-dollar payment.”
He asked for the lawsuit to remain anonymous to avoid tarnishing his “well-earned good reputation.”
The woman’s lawyers responded to Brooks’ filing and told the court they would sue in California.
“Ms. Roe respectfully requests that she may commence her California action as she intended to do, and use Mr. Doe’s name, absent objection from this Honorable Court,” the legal response read.
The California lawsuit named Brooks, but not Jane Roe.
The woman’s lawyers said they will “be moving for maximum sanctions” against Brooks for releasing her name.
Brooks requested compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a court injunction to halt his accuser from “further publicizing her false allegations.” He has asked for a trial by jury.
The singer’s lawyers justified naming the woman in the amended complaint. They said her own legal representation “wrested the decision” to name Brooks from the court when they briefed CNN about the lawsuit, despite Brooks’ motion to continue under pseudonyms still pending.
In a statement last week, amid widespread news coverage of the allegations against Brooks, he released a statement claiming he did not want to give anyone “hush money.”
“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 wrote. “I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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Sarah Do Couto
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