Garth Brooks Speaks Out After Rape Allegations, Lawsuit: 'I Am Not the Man They Have Painted Me to Be'

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty

Brooks added, “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."

In conclusion, Brooks said: “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.”

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood in May 2023 at the ACM Awards.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images

A woman who previously worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist for the star filed an anonymous complaint in California state court on Oct. 3, alleging that in 2019, Brooks raped her, exposed his genitals and buttocks, spoke openly about sex and related fantasies, changed clothes in her presence and sent sexually explicit text messages.

Though this marks Brooks’ first time speaking publicly about the suit, hepreviously denied the woman’s claims in a complaint filedwith the intention of blocking her allegations from going public. That suit was filed anonymously in Mississippi in September as “John Doe,” according to the complaint.

“[Her] allegations are not true. [She] 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,” the John Doe complaint reads. “Indeed, such knowledge no doubt explains why [she] threatened to file suit through a ‘confidential’ demand letter rather than simply filing suit to redress her alleged (but untrue) injuries.”

The woman, who filed as Jane Roe, said in the filing that she initially worked for Brooks’wife Trisha Yearwoodstarting in 1999, and began working for the “Friends in Low Places” singer in 2017.

She alleges that he used his power as her employer to get the “sexual gratification” he “believes he is entitled to,” and that he raped her in a hotel suite in May 2019 while on a business trip to Los Angeles. Roe called the alleged rape “painful and traumatic,” and said he attempted to rape her once more that October, but had to leave for another engagement.

Garth Brooks at the ACM Awards in May 2023.Theo Wargo/Getty

Theo Wargo/Getty

The complaint accuses Brooks of various other incidents, too, including him allegedly forcing Roe to touch his erect penis, and asking if she would have “a threesome” with Yearwood, whom he married in 2005.

According to the complaint, Roe stopped working for Brooks and moved to Mississippi around May 2021.

“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks," her attorneys said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “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. We are confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions and his 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 encourage others who may have been victimized to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com