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Garth Brooks Accuser Allegedly First Contacted An Attorney About Sexual Assault Allegations In 2020
Been in the works for quite a while.
The sexual assault allegations against Garth Brooks rocked the country music world back in October, when a lawsuit was filed in California against the country music superstar by a former makeup artist and hairdresser for Garth and his wife, Trisha Yearwood.
The woman, who identifies herself only as Jane Roe, alleges that the country music superstar raped and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, including once while the two were in Los Angeles.
Garth has, of course, denied the allegations:
“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. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.
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.
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.
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.”
And after the lawsuit was filed, it was revealed that Garth had actually filed an anonymous lawsuit of his own in Mississippi, seeking to prevent his accuser from naming him and going public with her lawsuit in California. But after the sexual assault lawsuit was filed naming Garth as the alleged abuser, the singer decided to re-file his lawsuit and publicly name his accuser, claiming she was no longer entitled to remain anonymous.
(For the record, we are choosing not to name the accuser at this time to give the legal process time to play out).
The legal drama is just at the beginning, with the court in Mississippi having sealed the case from the public, and Garth moving the lawsuit filed against him in California to federal court. He has also asked that the case be dismissed entirely, while attorneys for his accuser have asked that Garth be sanctioned for making her name public.
Long story short, it's a mess.
But as it turns out, it's a mess that's been brewing for quite some time.
In a sworn declaration filed by the woman's attorney, Hayley Baker, in the Mississippi case, Baker reveals that the accuser first reached out to her in 2020 regarding her claims against Garth:
"I first met the defendant...in 2020. I met Mrs. Roe in connection with her legal consultation about potential claims against...Garth Brooks. At the time. Mrs. Roe told me the underlying facts relating to Brooks that are now set forth in the action commenced in California Superior Court."
The accuser claims that she first started working for Garth in 2017, and that he began giving her more work in 2019 when she began experiencing financial difficulties. She alleges in her complaint that it was in 2019 that the sexual assaults began, including an incident when the singer walked out of the shower and exposed himself to her while making sexual comments. She also claims that the alleged rape in Los Angeles took place in 2019 while the pair were on a trip for a Grammy tribute to Sam Moore.
Her attorney, Baker, also revealed that the woman did not officially hire legal counsel until April 24, 2024, nearly four years after initially reaching out about her claims. And she claims that after she contacted Garth's attorneys, they asked her to "make an offer" to settle the case out of court.
The attorney claims that after presenting Garth's attorneys with a settlement offer, as well as notifying them that the offer would expire in September and that if not accepted she would be filing her lawsuit, they then asked for more information and medical records surrounding the accuser's alleged injuries.
On the date that the settlement offer was allegedly set to expire, Garth filed his lawsuit in Mississippi seeking to keep the woman's claims from becoming public.
Obviously there's still a long way to go in the cases, but it's interesting to find out that the woman actually started reaching out to attorneys way back in 2020.