'I am not the man they have painted me to be': Garth Brooks breaks silence after rape and battery allegations

4 October 2024, 05:58 | Updated: 4 October 2024, 06:10

Country music star Garth Brooks swears "I am not the man they have painted me to be" after a former employee accused him of sexual assault and battery in a US lawsuit.

The female employee claimed that Brooks raped her in a hotel room in 2019, and subjected her to unwanted sexual conduct, including exposing himself on several occasions and "groping her breasts".

The woman, identified as Jane Roe in the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, claimed the trauma from the alleged sexual assault became "so unbearable" that she contemplated taking her own life.

Two-time Grammy winner Brooks has since said the lawsuit is an attempt at extortion for "millions of dollars".

In a statement to the PA news agency, Brooks said: "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 behaviour I am incapable of - ugly acts no human should ever do to another."

In the lawsuit, the woman claims she was forced to keep working for Brooks because of financial hardship, which he knew about and allegedly exploited.

Brooks filed an anonymous lawsuit last month in Mississippi in which he asked a judge to stop the publication of "false allegations of sexual misconduct" by the woman, claiming it would "irreparably harm (his) reputation, family, career and livelihood".

In a statement to PA, he added: "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."

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Lawyers from Wigdor LLP, acting on behalf of the woman, said in a statement to PA: "We applaud our client's courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks.

"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.

"We encourage others who may have been victimised to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence."

The allegations, which were first filed in a California court on October 3, claim the country singer of raping the woman in a hotel suite during a work trip.

The woman also reports travelling with Brooks on a private jet in 2019.“Usually there were others on Brooks’ private jet but this time, Ms Roe and Brooks were the only two passengers,” the complaint states.

“Once in Los Angeles at the hotel, Ms Roe could not believe that Brooks had booked a hotel suite with one bedroom and she did not have a separate room.”

The complaint continues that Brooks groped her and made several remarks about “having a threesome” with his wife.

“Brooks’ rape of Ms. Roe was painful and traumatic,” the lawsuit continued.

“Having no regard for her wellbeing and intent on his own sexual gratification at the expense of Ms. Roe’s physical, mental and emotional trauma, at some point during the nightmare, Brooks even held her small body upside down [and attacked],” it read.

The allegations against Brooks were first reported by CNN.

Roe’s attorneys told the outlet that Brooks’’ “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.

“We are confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions,” attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker said continued.

“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks. 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.”