Garth Brooks filed complaints in response to the October 3 lawsuit filed by Jane Roe who claimed the country artist assaulted her but Brooks says its a ‘shakedown’
Garth Brooks is denying allegations of sexual assault by branding the lawsuit as a “shakedown.”
The country music icon was the subject of a lawsuit from a former hairstylist known as Jane Roe who used to work for Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood. Roe alleged that the Friends in Low Places singer raped her during a work trip in 2019 and sent her sexually explicit text messages.
Brooks attempted to block the filing before Roe made it, originally entering the request under the name John Doe. His identity was later revealed to The Mirror US.
In response to the lawsuit, Brooks filed two complaints in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. In them, he denied the allegations against him and stated he was the “victim of a shakedown” in documents obtained by The Mirror US.
Garth Brooks filed complaints against the lawsuit (Image:Getty Images)
His complaints also stated Brooks wanted to “defend himself against extortion” and asked for a trial by jury. Brooks also described the accuser as an “independent contractor” and when she moved from Tennessee to Mississippi she asked for financial assistance, which he gave.
She then allegedly asked for “salaried employment and medical benefits,” according to Brooks’ lawsuit. When Brooks declined, he alleged that she made “false and outrageous allegations” in a letter sent to Brooks on July 17.
Roe’s filing says differently and hits out at Brooks for preemptive filing. “Our civil court system is designed to resolve disputes and provide injured parties a means of redress, it said. It is supposed to be a level playing field. The system is not in place to allow wealthy wrongdoers the ability to run work-arounds on sexual assault victims who attempt to hold perpetrators accountable. This is precisely what Mr. Doe is asking the court to help him do.
In a statement to CNN, 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.”
He added: “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.”
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