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Garth Brooks is accused of sexual assault and assault by a former makeup artist


Garth Brooks is accused of sexual assault and assault by a former makeup artist

Country superstar Garth Brooks has been accused of sexual assault and battery, according to a lawsuit obtained by ABC News.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents as Jane Roe, filed the lawsuit on Thursday, October 3, in the California Supreme Court in Los Angeles County.

Jane Roe is identified in the lawsuit as a professional makeup artist and hairdresser with more than 30 years of experience in the music industry who was first hired to do makeup and hair for Brooks' wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999.

Garth Brooks performs at Croke Park in Dublin on September 9, 2022.

Brian Lawless/PA Images via Getty Images

According to the lawsuit, Roe began working with Brooks, now 62, in 2017.

Roe says in the complaint that she was hired more frequently by Brooks starting in 2019 after he learned she was experiencing “financial difficulties.”

The plaintiff claims her working relationship with Brooks took a turn in May 2019 when she alleges the Grammy-winning singer raped her on a work trip to Los Angeles.

According to the lawsuit, Roe claims she traveled to Los Angeles with Brooks and they were the “only two passengers” on his private jet. When Roe arrived at her hotel, she said she learned that Brooks “had booked a one-bedroom hotel suite and did not have a separate room,” the lawsuit says.

Roe claims she felt “trapped” in the hotel room where Brooks allegedly exposed himself and raped her.

Garth Brooks performs during the Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas on May 11, 2023.

Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

“Brooks’ rape of Ms. Roe was painful and traumatic,” the court document states. “With cold disregard for Ms. Roe, everything was business as usual when Brooks finished. Ms. Roe worked quickly to style his hair and do his makeup for the event so he was on time.”

Roe also accuses Brooks in the lawsuit of making several explicit statements and advances that she said were unwanted, as well as sexual assault in other cases and sexual abuse.

“Eventually, Ms. Roe was no longer able to continue working for Brooks and she sought legal advice regarding the incident,” the document states. “In addition, Ms. Roe moved to Mississippi in or about May 2021.”

The plaintiff is asking for a jury trial on all criminal matters and seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys' fees and “other relief as the court deems appropriate.”

“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks,” Roe’s attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and Hayley Baker said in a statement. “The complaint filed today shows that sexual predators exist not only in corporate America, Hollywood, and 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 by filing a preemptive lawsuit in Mississippi were nothing other than an act of desperation and intimidation,” it said Statement from Wigdor and Baker continues. “We encourage others who may have been victimized to reach out to us as no survivor should suffer in silence.”

Good Morning America has reached out to representatives for Brooks and Yearwood for comment but has not yet heard back.

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