Garth Brooks is speaking out against allegations against him from his former hairstylist and makeup artist, named in court documents as Jane Roe. In the lawsuit, she accuses Brooks of rape and sexual assault, stemming from an incident in a hotel room in 2019, charges Brooks vehemently denies.
“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 says in a statement (via Billboard). “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 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,” Brooks continued, referring to his Garth Brooks/Plus ONE residency, held at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. “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.”
The woman accusing Brooks worked for his wife, Trisha Yearwood, beginning in 1999, before switching to working for Brooks in 2017. In September, Brooks filed his own lawsuit, under the name of John Doe, calling her a “lying extortionist who intended on destroying his professional reputation.”
“[Her] allegations are not true,” Brooks said at the time (via People). “[She] 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. Indeed, such knowledge no doubt explains why [she] threatened to file suit through a ‘confidential’ demand letter rather than simply filing suit to redress her alleged (but untrue) injuries.”
If there was ever a night that I really needed this, TONIGHT was that night! Thank you for my life!!!!! love, g pic.twitter.com/q6FFLrJO0a
— Garth Brooks (@garthbrooks) October 4, 2024
After Brooks’ performance in Las Vegas, the Oklahoma native shared a post of gratitude on social media.
“If there was ever a night that I really needed this, TONIGHT was that night! Thank you for my life!!!!! love, g,” he wrote.
Indeed, few artists have been as outspoken about their appreciation for their fans as Brooks, who along with Yearwood opened their Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk in downtown Nashville, as a way to say thank you for their respective careers.
“This one is a thank you,” Brooks tells Everything Nash. “This one has been a guilt trip for me forever. This city has been so good to me. And it’s like the musical Oz kind of thing. So if you’re one of the people that’s lucky enough to get to live the dream, don’t you owe this city? This is how we think about it. So it’s been piling up on you and piling up on you that you owe this city. Let’s give it something.”