Garth Brooks issued a statement on Thursday after being accused by an anonymous “Jane Roe” plaintiff of sexual assault when she was working for him as a hair and makeup artist.
“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,” the country singer said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”
Brooks 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.”
The statement continued: “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.”
Brooks, who is set to perform in Las Vegas tonight, concluded, “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.”
On Thursday, news broke of Roe’s lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which the woman accused Brooks of battery that took place while she was at his home on a styling appointment.
Roe says she was first hired to do hair and makeup for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999, but that she transitioned into working for Brooks in 2017. She alleges Brooks also groped her and sent her explicit text messages. The woman claimed that a second incident occurred when she agreed to travel with Brooks to Los Angeles for a Grammy tribute to soul singer Sam Moore. She claimed Brooks “trapped” her in a hotel room, “grabbed her hands and pulled her” onto a bed, where she alleges he raped her.
The Jane Roe is suing for sexual assault, battery, and gender violence under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act.
Last month, prior to Roe filing her suit, Brooks denied her allegations in a preemptive complaint filed in federal court in Mississippi. That complaint was brought anonymously with the plaintiff described only as a “celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee.”