UPDATE: Vegas Headliner Garth Brooks Responds to Sexual Assault Charges

Posted on: October 4, 2024, 09:08h. 

Last updated on: October 4, 2024, 09:30h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

UPDATE: Public relations reps for Garth Brooks have issued his response to the sexual assault lawsuit brought on Thursday by a woman claiming to have worked as his makeup and hair stylist.

“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,” Brooks said in the statement. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”

The statement continued: “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.

“We filed suit against this person nearly a month ago to speak out against extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of families on both sides.

“I want to play music tonight. I want to continue our good deeds going forward. It breaks my heart these wonderful things are now 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.”

Sexual assault charges against Garth Brooks were filed on Thursday, hours before the country superstar was scheduled to resume his residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (Image: Live Nation)

The complaint, filed in a California state court on Thursday by a woman using the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” claims that the incidents — which allegedly include a rape committed by Brooks during a work trip — all occurred in 2019.

Representatives for Brooks didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. However, CNN, which broke the story, reported that the singer “fiercely” denied his accuser’s claims in a pre-emptive complaint he filed in Mississippi as a “John Doe.”

According to the woman’s suit, she started working for Brooks in 2017, after having worked for his wife, fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, for 18 years.

In addition to sexual assault and battery, the woman’s suit accuses Brooks of repeatedly exposing his genitals and buttocks, sharing sexual fantasies, repeatedly changing his clothing in front of her, and sending her sexually explicit texts.

During one alleged incident, the woman’s lawsuit claims, Brooks walked out of the shower naked, “grabbed her hands and forced them” onto his genitals. (The woman claims she was often required to work at Brooks’ home.)

The alleged rape happened in a hotel room during a work trip to LA, according to the woman’s lawsuit.

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

The woman’s lawsuit alleges that her boss “appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, completely naked” before raping her. Afterward, the lawsuit claims, Brooks began physically groping her. The complaint adds that Brooks made “repeated remarks” about “having a threesome” with Yearwood.

Brooks’ Response

Brooks’ previous lawsuit claimed that the woman’s lawyer attempted to blackmail him, sending him a letter threatening a sexual assault lawsuit if she didn’t provide his client with a full-time job with medical benefits.

Defendant’s allegations are not true,” Brooks’ previous 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 woman’s attorneys (Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen, and Hayley Baker) told CNN they are “confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions” and that “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.”

Hours after the lawsuit was filed, Brooks will take the stage at his ongoing “Plus One” residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, which continues through March 9.