A woman who says she worked as a hair and makeup artist for Garth Brooks alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday that he raped her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2019.
The woman is not using her name and is referred to as Jane Roe in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
She said the assault happened while she was traveling with Brooks from Nashville to Los Angeles, where he was performing at a Grammy Awards tribute concert in October 2019.
The woman claims in the lawsuit that she had worked for Brooks’ wife, country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999, and that she also began working for Brooks in 2017.
In a statement provided to CBS News Thursday evening, Brooks said he filed his own lawsuit “anonymously” nearly a month ago against the plaintiff for “extortion and defamation.”
“Over the past two months, I have been harassed endlessly with threats, lies and tragic stories about what my future would be like if I didn’t write a multi-million dollar check,” Brooks said. “It was like having a loaded gun held up in my face. Hush money, no matter how much or how little, is still hush money. In my mind, that means I’m admitting to behavior that I’m incapable – ugly acts that are not humane should ever do to another We filed a complaint against this person almost a month ago to denounce the extortion and defamation. anonymous for the sake of families on both sides I want to play music tonight I want to continue.
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According to the woman’s complaint filed Thursday, Brooks normally traveled with an entourage, but the two were alone on his private jet and he had only booked one hotel suite for the two of them. The woman alleges that in the suite he appeared naked in the bedroom doorway and raped her.
The suit says he then proceeded as if nothing had happened and expected her to do her hair and makeup immediately afterward.
She alleges that earlier in 2019, while she was at Brooks’ home, he appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands and put them on his genitals.
The lawsuit says Brooks filed his preemptive complaint in federal court in Mississippi last month, in which he and the woman are anonymous.
The woman’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, acknowledged Brooks’ “preemptive complaint” in his own statement to CBS News.
“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks,” Wigdor said. “Today’s complaint demonstrates that sexual predators exist not only in corporate America, in 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 efforts. silencing our client by filing a preemptive complaint in Mississippi was nothing more than an act of desperation and an attempt to intimidate others who may have. been victims to contact us because no survivor should suffer in silence.
The lawsuit does not say whether the woman reported the alleged incident to authorities. CBS News has also reached out to a representative for Yearwood for comment on the lawsuit.
In Brooks’ lawsuit, the plaintiff, named John Doe, claims the allegations are “totally false” and that he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him if he didn’t didn’t give him millions of dollars.
It asks a judge to stop the woman from “intentionally causing emotional distress, defamation and false invasion of privacy.”
The woman’s suit also says Brooks exposed himself to her on multiple occasions, discussed sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.
She said she was forced to continue working for Brooks because of financial difficulties, which he knew about and took advantage of.
Oklahoma-born Brooks, 62, was country music’s biggest star of the 1990s, with hits such as “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls.” He brought an arena rock theatricality to his concerts and a pop-music sensibility to his recordings. He had huge success that reached beyond the typical country audience.
He married fellow actress Yearwood in 2005.
