A woman who says she worked as a stylist for Garth Brooks filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the country music icon of rape.
The plaintiff, identified as Jane Roe to protect her identity, alleges the incident took place in a Los Angeles hotel room back in October 2019.
According to the legal document, the woman had been employed as a hair-and-makeup stylist for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, since 1999 and began working directly for Brooks in 2017.
The alleged assault occurred during a trip from Nashville to Los Angeles, where Brooks was set to perform at a Grammy Awards tribute alongside Sam Moore.
Contrary to Brooks’ usual practice of traveling with an entourage, this time, he and Roe were the only passengers on his private jet, the lawsuit alleges.
Roe said Brooks booked a single hotel suite for both of them unbeknownst to her and allegedly raped her in the suite.
The lawsuit also described an earlier incident at Brooks’ residence in 2019, where he allegedly exposed himself to Roe and forcibly placed her hands on his genitals.
Brooks strongly denied the allegations in a statement, labeling them as “wholly untrue.”
Brooks said that he became aware of these accusations in July when the woman allegedly threatened to sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.
In September, Brooks preemptively filed his own lawsuit in a Mississippi federal court, hoping to prevent Roe from coming forward.
Brooks asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy.”
“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 a statement. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”
Brooks said he filed the case anonymously “for the sake of families on both sides.”
“I trust the system,” the singer said. “I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
The woman also claims Brooks exposed himself to her numerous times, mentioned his sexual fantasies to her, and sent her explicit text messages. The stylist said she was forced to keep working for Brooks because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.
The 62-year-old Oklahoma-born Brooks was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, known for hits such as “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls.”
Brooks’s combination of country and pop sensibility, combined with arena-rock theatrics at concerts, was a huge success that went beyond typical country audiences and even beyond pop stars in general. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Brooks is the only artist to have released nine albums that sold more than 10 million copies—surpassing even the Beatles’ six diamond records.
Brooks married Georgia-born country star Yearwood in 2005. The two originally met when Yearwood sang background vocals on one of Brooks’ recordings.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.