Garth Brooks Responds To His Accuser In New Court Documents – Claims He’s The Target Of A “Shakedown”
on Oct 09, 2024
A Synopsis Of The Allegations & Lawsuit Against Garth Brooks
On Tuesday (October 8), Garth Brooks responded to his accuser by filing new documents in court.
In mid-September, Brooks anonymously filed a lawsuit against “Jane Roe” in a Mississippi federal court, since Jane Roe resides in the state. Country Rebel obtained a copy of these court documents, which name Brooks as “John Doe.”
In the filing, Brooks claimed that Jane Roe was falsely accusing him of sexual misconduct in order to benefit financially.
“Defendant’s allegations are not true,” Brooks’ lawsuit stated. “Defendant is well aware, however, of the substantial, irreparable damage such false allegations would do to Plaintiff’s well-earned reputation as a decent and caring person, along with the unavoidable damage to his family and the irreparable damage to his career and livelihood that would result if she made good on her threat to ‘publicly file’ her fabricated lawsuit.”
The general public was unaware of Brooks’ lawsuit until October 4. That’s when Jane Roe filed her own lawsuit, and publicly named Brooks.
Jane Roe, who previously worked as a hair and makeup artist for Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, accused Brooks of rape and sexual assault.
A portion of the lawsuit reads:
“Brooks is desperate to prevent his millions of fans from learning about the horrific things he has said and done to a junior female employee who did nothing to deserve such treatment.”
Garth Brooks Responds To The Accusations & Maintains His Innocence
A few hours after news of Jane Roe’s lawsuit went public, Brooks responded in a statement provided to Country Rebel and other media outlets. He denied all of Jane Roe’s allegations and accused her of seeking “hush money” from him.
“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 said. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”
Brooks maintained his innocence in his statement, saying, “I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
Later that same evening (October 4), Brooks performed as part of his ongoing residency in Las Vegas. He shared a photo of the crowd on social media after the show, captioning it, “If there was ever a night that I really needed this, TONIGHT was that night! Thank you for my life!!!!! love, g.”
Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, broke her silence on social media on Monday (October 7). She shared a photo of her and Garth singing together in Vegas, captioning it, “Love One Another.“
Brooks briefly addressed the lawsuit during his Inside Studio G session on October 7. He told his fans it could take up to two years for the matter to be resolved.
“This thing is on. It’s gonna happen,” he said. “And people are telling me it could be up to two years, so my suggestion is, we all take a deep breath, we all just kind of settle in and let’s hold hands and take the trip together, okay?”
Garth Brooks Names His Accuser, Draws Criticism From Her Attorneys
Then on Tuesday (October 8), Brooks filed a new response to his accuser in court. USA TODAY reports that his newly filed documents identify himself as the “John Doe” in the initial lawsuit he filed in mid-September.
USA TODAY reports Brooks is asking a judge to declare Jane Roe’s allegations “to be untrue and [also] award him damages for emotional distress and defamation.”
Brooks refers to himself as “the victim of a shakedown” in his new filing. He claims to have first learned of Jane Roe’s allegations after receiving a letter from her attorneys in July 2024. Brooks alleges that the letter asked him to pay “millions of dollars” to keep Jane Roe from filing her lawsuit.
Brooks also revealed the name of his accuser in the new court documents. USA TODAY reports that he:
“…denounces Roe’s legal team for naming him in her California lawsuit before the Mississippi court could rule whether to allow Brooks to continue the case with a pseudonym.”
Country Rebel will not be sharing Jane Roe’s real name at this time.
Lawyers for Brooks state that an October 1 filing from Jane Roe’s lawyers reads that she respected the court’s decision on “whether Mr. Doe [Brooks] can proceed under a pseudonym” as the case advanced. This filing said she would “wait until later this week to make sure there is no objection from this Honorable Court before filing her California action in this manner.”
In that same filing, Jane Roe’s lawyers wrote:
“Although Ms. Roe believes that her name warrants protection and that ultimately the California court should decide that issue, she is willing to proceed using her name here if this Court believes that is necessary in denying Plaintiff’s motion.”
Because of this, and the fact that Brooks’ identity was revealed in Jane Roe’s lawsuit, USA TODAY reports that he “…filed an amended complaint without pseudonyms.”
Jane Roe’s lawyers provided a statement to USA TODAY, critcizing Brooks’ decision to reveal her name in his newly filed documents.
“Garth Brooks just revealed his true self. Out of spite and to punish, he publicly named a rape victim,” read the attorneys’ statement. “With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him. On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately.”
One of Jane Roe’s attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor, added, “[Brooks] is far from the victim of a shakedown and in fact offered millions of dollars to keep this matter from becoming public.”
When asked for a response, a represenative for Brooks told USA TODAY his latest filing is “self-explanatory.“
This is a developing story.
