Current:Home > InvestGarth Brooks Accused in Lawsuit of Raping Makeup Artist, Offering "Threesome" With Wife Trisha Yearwood -GrowthInsight
Garth Brooks Accused in Lawsuit of Raping Makeup Artist, Offering "Threesome" With Wife Trisha Yearwood
View
Date:2025-04-22 15:45:02
Content warning: This story discusses rape.
Garth Brooks is facing legal troubles.
The country singer has been accused of assault, battery and sexual battery in a lawsuit brought about by his and wife Trisha Yearwood's former hairstylist and makeup artist, according to docs obtained by E! News.
In the Oct. 3, filing, the woman—referred to in the suit as Jane Roe—says she began working for Yearwood, 60, in 1999, and started handling hair and makeup for Brooks, 62, in 2017.
The docs allege that in 2019, "Brooks learned that Ms. Roe was experiencing financial difficulties, he hired Ms. Roe more often," and accused the "Friends in Low Places" singer of seizing "an opportunity to subject a female employee to a side of Brooks that he conceals from the public. This side of Brooks believes he is entitled to sexual gratification when he wants it, and using a female employee to get it, is fair game."
The suit accuses Brooks of "openly talking about sexual subjects," changing "clothing in front of Ms. Roe, and often purposefully exposed his genitals and buttocks to Ms. Roe," repeating his "sexual fantasies" to her, sending her sexually explicit text messages, as well as remarks "about having a threesome with his wife, Ms. Yearwood."
E! News has reached out to reps for Brooks and Yearwood for comment, but has not heard back.
Roe also alleges in the lawsuit Brooks raped her during a work trip to Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards in 2019. According to the filing, "Once in Los Angeles at the hotel, Ms. Roe could not believe that Brooks had booked a hotel suite with one bedroom and she did not have a separate room."
Upon their arrival at the hotel, Roe's lawsuit says that Brooks "appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, completely naked" and that she felt "trapped in the room alone with Brooks, with no one to help and far away from Nashville."
The lawsuit says that the assault was "painful and traumatic" for Roe and that, "She was helpless to move from his grip and terrified at what was happening to her."
Roe stopped working for Brooks and Yearwood around May 2021, per the suit, and subsequently moved to Mississippi.
Her lawyers allege in the docs that when they contacted Brooks to disclose that she "was prepared to file a complaint in California to hold him accountable for his sexual assaults," Brooks retaliated and "used the fact that Ms. Roe had dared to speak about the harm he forced on her as an opportunity to inflict even more harm and pain on Ms. Roe."
"Specifically, while pretending to be in discussions with Ms. Roe to resolve her legal claims against him, on September 13, 2024," the suit states, "Brooks filed a preemptive abusive Complaint against Ms. Roe under the Declaratory Judgment Act, in the United States District Court For The Southern District of Mississippi, Northern Division, entitled John Doe v. Jane Roe."
Roe is asking for "monetary and/or compensatory damages" as well as "punitive damages/exemplary damages," according to her suit, as well as "further relief as the court may deem proper."
Brooks had previously denied Roe's claims, saying in his complaint as plaintiff John Doe, according to CNN, that her "attorney sent him a 'confidential' demand letter alleging sexual misconduct after he declined Roe's request for 'salaried employment and medical benefits.'"
"Defendant's allegations are not true," Brooks' previous lawsuit stated, per the outlet. "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."
Roe's attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker said in a statement to NBC News that Brooks' "efforts to silence our client through the filing of a preemptive complaint in Mississippi was nothing other than an act of desperation and attempted intimidation."
"We are confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions," they added. "We applaud our client's courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks. 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."
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For more information on domestic abuse or to get help for yourself or someone you love, visit the website for The National Domestic Violence Hotline (http://www.thehotline.org/) or call 1-800-799-7233.veryGood! (9218)
Related
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Fifty Shades of Grey's Jamie Dornan Reveals Texts With Costar Dakota Johnson
- Chinese woman facing charge of trying to smuggle turtles across Vermont lake to Canada
- 'Now or never': Bruce Bochy's Texas Rangers in danger zone for World Series defense
- Giants, Lions fined $200K for fights in training camp joint practices
- Over 100 stranded Dolphins in Cape Cod are now free, rescue teams say − for now
- Hurricane Beryl maps show path and landfall forecast
- Animal rescuers save more than 100 dolphins during mass stranding event around Cape Cod
- Hidden Home Gems From Kohl's That Will Give Your Space a Stylish Refresh for Less
- Bill defining antisemitism in North Carolina signed by governor
Ranking
- Clay Aiken's son Parker, 15, makes his TV debut, looks like his father's twin
- Iran to hold presidential runoff election between reformist Pezeshkian and hard-liner Jalili
- Impromptu LGBTQ+ protest in Istanbul after governor bans Pride march
- Meet the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team, headlined by Simone Biles, Suni Lee
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Full transcript of Face the Nation, June 30, 2024
- Luke Wilson didn't know if he was cast in Kevin Costner's 'Horizon'
- The ethical quandary facing the Supreme Court (and America)
Recommendation
Oklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row
Some Gen Xers can start dipping into retirement savings without penalty, but should you?
Pride parades in photos: See how Pride Month 2024 is celebrated worldwide
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Monkey in the Middle
NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
Simone Biles deserves this Paris Olympics spot, and the happiness that comes with it
Inside how US Olympic women's gymnastics team for Paris Games was picked
Voters kick all the Republican women out of the South Carolina Senate