Garth Brooks sued and accused of rape by former makeup artist

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Garth Brooks has been accused of sexual assault and battery in a lawsuit brought by a woman who says she worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist for the singer.

Brooks, 62, is one of country music’s biggest stars.

He is being sued by a woman identified only as a “Jane Roe” who says she was first hired to do hair and makeup for his wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999. She says she began working for Brooks directly in 2017.

CNN reports that the complaint, which was filed in a state court in California on Thursday October 3, contains the allegation that Brooks raped the woman in a hotel suite during a work trip.

She claims that in May 2019 she travelled with Brooks to Los Angeles on his private jet.

“Usually there were others on Brooks’ private jet but this time, Ms Roe and Brooks were the only two passengers,” the complaint reportedly states. “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.”

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She alleges that Brooks raped her, and that on subsequent occasions he physically groped her and made “repeated remarks” about “having a threesome” with his wife.

In addition to the allegation of rape, Brooks is accused in the lawsuit of repeatedly exposing his genitals to the woman, sharing sexual fantasies with her and sending her sexually explicit text messages.

The Independent has approached representatives for Brooks for comment.

CNN also reports that Brooks has previously denied his accuser’s claims, and sought to prevent her from repeating the allegations publicly through a previous complaint he filed as a “John Doe.”

In that complaint, he claimed that the woman had sent him a “confidential” demand letter alleging sexual misconduct after he had declined her request for “salaried employment and medical benefits.”

“Defendant’s allegations are not true,” Brooks’ previous lawsuit states. “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.”

In a statement to CNN, attorneys acting on the woman’s behalf said that they are “confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions.”

Douglas H Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker continued: “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.”