Garth Brooks. Paul Morigi/Getty Photos
Garth Brooks has damaged his silence after being accused of sexual assault and battery.
“For the final two months, I’ve been hassled to no finish with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future could be if I didn’t write a verify for a lot of tens of millions of {dollars}. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face,” Brooks, 62, stated Thursday, October 3, in an announcement to Us Weekly.
“Hush cash, irrespective of how a lot or how little, continues to be hush cash. In my thoughts, meaning I’m admitting to habits I’m incapable of — ugly acts no human ought to ever do to a different,” he continued. “We filed swimsuit in opposition to this individual almost a month in the past to talk out in opposition to extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of households on either side.”
“I wish to play music tonight,” he added. “I wish to proceed our good deeds going ahead. It breaks my coronary heart these fantastic issues are in query now. I belief the system, I don’t worry the reality, and I’m not the person they’ve painted me to be.”
Brooks was named in a Thursday, October 3, criticism obtained by CNN, through which an nameless girl claimed that the nation singer raped her in 2019 whereas she was working as a hairstylist for him.
Within the lawsuit, the hairstylist (known as Jane Roe) alleged that she began working for Brooks in 2017 after steadily dealing with the glam for his spouse, Trisha Yearwood. Roe additionally claimed that Brooks despatched her sexually express textual content messages, repeatedly uncovered his genitals in her presence and made “repeated remarks” about “having a threesome” with Yearwood, 60. (Brooks and Yearwood have been married since 2005 following respective divorces.)
Forward of Roe’s lawsuit, Brooks anonymously filed a criticism to attempt to bar her from repeating the allegations and he vehemently denied her account.
“Defendant’s allegations are usually not true,” Brooks’ submitting learn, per CNN. “Defendant is effectively conscious, nevertheless, of the substantial, irreparable injury such false allegations would do to Plaintiff’s well-earned fame as a good and caring individual, together with the unavoidable injury to his household and the irreparable injury to his profession and livelihood that will end result if she made good on her menace to ‘publicly file’ her fabricated lawsuit.”
Roe’s attorneys, in the meantime, advised CNN that Brooks was attempting to “silence” Roe in an “act of desperation.”
“We’re assured that Brooks can be held accountable for his actions,” attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker stated of their assertion to the outlet. “We applaud our consumer’s braveness in transferring ahead along with her criticism in opposition to Garth Brooks. The criticism filed at present demonstrates that sexual predators exist not solely in company America, Hollywood and within the rap and rock and roll industries, but additionally on the earth of nation music.”
Generally America’s sweethearts go bitter. From Morgan Wallen to The Chicks, the largest names in nation music have been on the middle of some main controversies. Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer discovered themselves in sizzling water within the early 2000s after sharing their private politics on a public stage. Whereas performing throughout the […]
Yearwood, for her half, has not addressed Brooks’ scandal. A number of days earlier than Roe’s lawsuit made headlines, Yearwood posted an Instagram photograph of the married couple performing in Las Vegas late final month.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. Roy Rochlin/WireImage
Final 12 months, Brooks advised Us Weekly that he was typically “dependent” on Yearwood.
“I really feel so helpless as a result of there’s nothing I can’t do with out her,” Brooks completely advised Us in August 2023, months earlier than they opened their joint Nashville bar. “There’s nothing I can’t do along with her and there’s nothing I can do with out her. It’s a blessing and a curse that you just really feel so free and impartial when she’s there and also you’re so dependent when she’s not there … I don’t suppose she feels this fashion in any respect, however I do know I do.”
Earlier than marrying Yearwood, the Grammy winner was married to first spouse Sandy Mahl between 1986 and 2001. Three years after their marriage ceremony, Brooks admittedly cheated on Mahl, with whom he shares three daughters. They in the end reconciled earlier than splitting for good in 2000.
Should you or somebody you recognize has been sexually assaulted, please contact the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
