NOTE: The following article contains disturbing content. Please read at your own discretion.
Garth Brooks is being sued for sexual battery and assault by a hair and makeup artist who claims that the country music star raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room and groped her on numerous occasions in 2019.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a California superior court, identifies the plaintiff only as “Jane Roe,” and states that she faced “debilitating pain in her neck and lower back” after the alleged violent rape.
Brooks claims that Roe is trying to extort him. The 62-year-old country singer filed his own complaint against Roe in a Mississippi court last month, before she filed her sexual assault lawsuit.
“While pretending to be in discussions with Ms. Roe to resolve her legal claims against him, on September 13, 2024, Brooks filed a preemptive abusive Complaint against Ms. Roe,” the makeup artist’s lawyers write in the filing.
Brooks released a statement after Roe’s allegations went public, writing: “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. 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 [behaviour] I am incapable of — ugly acts no human should ever do to another.”
The allegations
According to Roe’s sexual assault complaint, she started working as a makeup artist for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999. After many years of working with Yearwood, Roe started to do hair and makeup for Brooks in 2017.
“By 2019, after Brooks learned that Ms. Roe was experiencing financial difficulties, he hired Ms. Roe more often. She was grateful for the additional income and thanked him repeatedly. It did not take long for Brooks to take advantage of her financial hardship,” the lawsuit claims.
One day in 2019, Roe went to Brooks’ house to do his hair and makeup and was horrified to see that Brooks had just come out of the shower naked with an erection, according to the lawsuit.
“He grabbed her hands and forced them onto his erect penis. Brooks appallingly told Ms. Roe that he had fantasized about this moment and wanted her to perform oral sex on him,” the suit reads. Roe refused but she did not leave her job due to the financial hardship she was under.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
In May 2019, Brooks asked Roe to travel with him to Los Angeles for a Grammy tribute to Sam Moore, the suit states. Usually, Brooks travels with a larger entourage, but this time, it was only Roe and Brooks who flew to L.A. When they arrived at the hotel, Roe was shocked to learn that Brooks had booked a single hotel suite with only one bedroom for them, the suit says.
In the hotel room, Brooks again exposed himself to Roe and “pulled her into the next room and onto the bed where she could not escape his physical domination.”
He then raped the makeup artist, the suit claims. At some point, he held her upside-down during the assault.
“Brooks’ rape of Ms. Roe was painful and traumatic,” the lawsuit reads. “In the weeks after this horrific violence, Ms. Roe experienced debilitating pain in her neck and lower back, which she sought medical treatment for. In addition, she had to seek treatment from her ob-gyn for damage Brooks caused during the Los Angeles rape.”
Roe allegedly contemplated suicide after the rape but she continued working for Brooks to earn money to support her family, the lawsuit states.
In October 2019, Brooks asked Roe to travel with him again to L.A. for a five-day trip. This time, other employees were present. One morning during the trip, Roe went to Brooks’ hotel room to do his hair and makeup and found him “on the bed, face down, wearing loose shorts and holding his crotch, and made it clear that he wanted to do what he had done before in Los Angeles.”
“Ms. Roe managed to escape the situation because he was running late and people were waiting to pick him up,” the lawsuit reads.
Eventually, Roe stopped working for Brooks and moved to Mississippi in 2021.
The lawsuit claims that, apart from those three encounters, Brooks repeatedly sent Roe sexually explicit text messages and would grope her breasts while she was doing his hair and makeup.
“On too many occasions to list, Brooks would lasciviously stare at Ms. Roe’s breasts and pressure Ms. Roe to open her shirt to allow him to physically touch her breasts for purposes of his arousal after which Brooks would then masturbate,” the suit reads.
Roe is seeking monetary and punitive damages, on top of lawyer’s fees. She is asking for a jury trial to determine the outcome of the case.
Brooks is currently doing a Las Vegas residency at the The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. After Roe’s lawsuit was filed on Thursday, Brooks posted a photo to Instagram of the crowd at Thursday’s show, seemingly referencing the situation.
“If there was ever a night that I really needed this, TONIGHT was that night! Thank you for my life!!!!!” he wrote.
—
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
