On Monday, Garth Brooks defended himself on a livestream with his followers against a recently filed complaint that accused him of sexual assault and battery.
In a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, a hair and makeup artist has accused the country singer of sexual assault and abuse, allegations the singer has vehemently denied.
Now, the 62-year-old is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the accuser after he claimed he is the “victim of a shakedown.”
According to Taste Of Country, the 62-year-old country music legend talked about “the elephant in the room” during TalkShopLive’s Inside Studio G conversation.
“A lot’s happened in the last two weeks,”he said, referring to the allegations against him.
“This thing is on, it’s gonna happen, and people are telling me it could be up to two years. OK?” he continued.
In a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, a hair and makeup artist has accused country singer Garth Brooks of sexual assault and abuse, allegations the singer has vehemently denied.
In response to a former employee’s allegations of alleged sexual assault and battery in a US lawsuit, country music artist Garth Brooks declared, “I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
The ex-employee said that in 2019 Garth Brooks sexually assaulted her in a hotel room.
The woman claims in the lawsuit that she was forced to continue working for the singer because of her financial difficulties.
She alleges the singer knew about her struggles and exploited them.
Last month, the country singer filed a lawsuit, requesting a judge to stop the publication of “false allegations of sexual misconduct” by the woman, claiming it would “irreparably harm (his) reputation, family, career, and livelihood”.
Garth addressed the claims in a statement to Entertainment Tonight: “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.”
The statement continued: “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. 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 statement concluded.
The country singer has since declared he is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from the accuser after he claimed he is the “victim of a shakedown.”
Garth filed a complaint on Tuesday, October 8, with the District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Northern Division.
In documents obtained by Us Weekly, he claimed that his accuser leaked his name while waiting for a judge to sign off on his separate filing in to use a pseudonym for both parties in the lawsuit.
The documents alleged: “When Jane Roe threatened to publish lies about him — intending to blackmail Plaintiff into paying her millions of dollars — Plaintiff filed this lawsuit to preserve his reputation, establish the truth, and put a stop to her scheme.”
“For the sake of his family, and out of respect for Roe’s family as well, Plaintiff titled this action ‘John Doe vs. Jane Roe.’”
They further claimed the Country music star’s accuser gave the court “fewer than 48 hours after filing her opposition before publicly leaking Plaintiff’s identity to the press.”
It was further alleged that the accuser’s legal team confirmed Garth’s identity while his filing was still under review, claiming: “her defiance of this court’s authority was intentional.”
The filing was submitted a second time, in which both Garth and his accuser were named.
In this filing, it was alleged she accused him of sexual assault when he didn’t agree to her “demands for salaried employment and medical benefits.”
Garth claimed that in a letter from July 17th his accuser “threatened” to “publicly file fabricated allegations” unless he “agreed to pay Defendant millions of dollars not to file the suit.”
In a second letter, the accuser “offered to refrain from publicly filing her false and defamatory lawsuit against Plaintiff in exchange for a multi-million dollar payment.”
Throughout, the Friends in Low Places singer has maintained the allegations against him are false, requesting “a declaratory judgment that Defendant’s allegations against him of sexual misconduct are untrue.”
He also asked the judge for “compensatory damages proximately caused by Defendant’s intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy, including incidental and consequential damages” – as well as “punitive damages in an amount sufficient to deter similar future behaviour.”
In a statement to Us Weekly, the accuser’s legal team said: “Garth Brooks just revealed his true self.”
“Out of spite and to punish, he publicly named a rape victim. With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him.”
“On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately,”
