In a new legal filing, country singer Garth Brooks publicly named a former employee who last week sued the musician for rape in a civil lawsuit.
Brooks, 62, told the U.S. District Court in Mississippi on Tuesday that the woman’s allegations are part of an “ongoing extortion attempt” aimed at defaming him and inflicting emotional distress. He said he is a “victim of extortion.”
The woman, identified as “Jane Roe” in legal filings prior to Tuesday, said the singer raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2019. The woman’s attorneys told the Los Angeles Times that Brooks revealed her identity “ with without legal justification because he believes that the laws do not apply to him.”
“Garth Brooks just revealed his true self,” said attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker.
Jane Roe told the court that she worked as a makeup artist and hairstylist for Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, from 1999 to 2021.
Over the course of two years of her employment, the woman claims Brooks exposed his genitals to her on numerous occasions, touched her body and sent her sexually explicit text messages. Roe said he continued working for Brooks because of personal financial difficulties, of which he was aware.
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Global News does not typically name sexual assault accusers unless they have come forward to identify themselves first.
Prior to the woman’s civil suit against Brooks, filed in a California superior court, the Friends in low places The singer sued her for alleged extortion. The lawsuit was filed anonymously in Mississippi and called Brooks “John Doe,” as well as “a celebrity and public figure residing in Tennessee.”
Brooks told the court he was falsely accused of sexual assault by Jane Roe, who threatened legal action unless he was provided with “a multimillion-dollar settlement.”
He asked that the lawsuit remain anonymous to avoid tarnishing his “well-earned good reputation.”
The woman’s attorneys responded to Brooks’ filing and told the court they would sue in California.
“EM. Roe respectfully requests that you may bring your action in California as you intended to do and use Mr. Doe’s name, without objection from this Honorable Court,” the legal response read.
The California lawsuit named Brooks, but not Jane Roe.
The woman’s attorneys said they will “seek maximum sanctions” against Brooks for revealing her name.
Brooks sought compensatory and punitive damages, as well as an injunction to prevent his accuser from “further publicizing her false allegations.” He has asked for a jury trial.
The singer’s lawyers justified naming the woman in the amended complaint. They said their own legal representation “ripped the decision” to appoint Brooks from the court when informed CNN about the lawsuiteven though Brooks’ motion to continue under pseudonyms is still pending.
In a statement last week, amid widespread news coverage of the allegations against Brooks, he issued a statement saying he did not want to give anyone “hush money.”
“Silence money, no matter how much or how little, is still silence money. “In my opinion, that means I am admitting behavior of which I am incapable: ugly acts that no human being should do to another,” he wrote. “I trust the system, I am not afraid of the truth and I am not the man they have painted me as.”
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Crime Victims Resource Center for help. You can also contact them toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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