Country star Garth Brooks was accused of raping and sexually harassing a makeup artist in a lawsuit filed Thursday in California.
The alleged victim, identified as Jane Roe in the lawsuit, claims Brooks raped her in a hotel room in Los Angeles in 2019.
According to the suit reviewed by the Daily News, Brooks and Roe flew to Los Angeles so he could record a Grammy tribute performance to Sam Moore. But curiously, Brooks and Roe were the only people on the private jet, the suit says.
When the two arrived at the hotel in L.A., Roe learned that Brooks had booked only one room for the two of them, according to the documents. In that room, Brooks physically overpowered Roe and raped her, at one point holding her upside down by her feet, the suit claims.
“With cold disregard for Ms. Roe, when Brooks was finished, it was business as usual,” the lawsuit reads. “Roe worked quickly to style his hair and do his makeup for the event so he was on time.”
Additionally, the suit claims Brooks would consistently harass Roe while she worked for him, describing his sexual fantasies with her and groping her breasts.
In one instance, Brooks walked out of the shower naked, forced Roe to grab his penis and asked her to perform oral sex on him, according to the suit. Roe says she pulled away and rejected Brooks’ request.
In the suit, Roe says she continued working for Brooks because she needed the money. She first started working for Brooks’ wife, fellow country star Trisha Yearwood, in 1999, and began working with Brooks in 2017, the lawsuit says.
Last month, Brooks filed a preemptive legal action in Mississippi under the name John Doe, seeking to stop Roe from suing him, CNN reported earlier Thursday. He claimed her impending lawsuit would unfairly tarnish his reputation with “false allegations.”
“But our legal system is not in place to allow wealthy wrongdoers the ability to run work-arounds on sexual assault victims who attempt to hold perpetrators accountable,” Roe’s lawsuit reads in reference to Brooks’ failed attempt.
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