Garth Brooks' Rape Accuser's Legal Team Slams Singer for Naming Her in Suit: 'Moving for Maximum Sanctions'

Mar. 15, 2025

Garth Brooks in Los Angeles in November 2017.Photo:Greg Doherty/GettyThe legal team of “Jane Roe” — the woman who accusedGarth Brooksofsexual assault and battery— is speaking out after the country music star named her in anew complaintfiled on Oct. 8.Roe’s attorneys issued a statement to PEOPLE after the “Friends in Low Places” singer, 62, refiled his complaint against her, dropping all pseudonyms and naming her in his latest filing, which also accused her of “extortion” and “defamation.”“Garth Brooks just revealed his true self,” Roe’s attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker told PEOPLE in a statement. “With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him. On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately.”Garth Brooks at the Kennedy Center Honors in May 2021.Paul Morigi/GettyBrooksoriginally filed a lawsuit against Roeusing the pseudonym “John Doe” for himself; on Oct. 8, he submitted court documents saying that he would “re-file his [original] complaint without pseudonyms” against “Jane Roe,” claiming her attorneys “disclosed” his identity to the press.In the original filing, Brooks claimed that he was the “victim of a shakedown” and that Roe, who was a former hairstylist and makeup artist for him and his wifeTrish Yearwood, “devised a malicious scheme to blackmail” him into paying her “millions of dollars” after he “rejected her request for salaried employment and medical benefits.”Brooks also claimed that Roe “threatened” to “publicly disclose false claims” about him that would “imperil his business and reputation,” referring to the allegations she made in an Oct. 3 complaint against him.Roe alleged in the documents that the country singer exposed his genitals to her, spoke openly about sex and sexual fantasies, changed clothes in her presence and sent sexually explicit text messages to her in 2019. She also alleged that he raped her in a hotel suite and asked her to have “a threesome” with Yearwood, per the documents.Garth Brooks performing in Washington, D.C., in March 2024.Shannon Finney/GettyBrooks has denied the allegations, claiming in astatement to PEOPLEthat he has “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.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“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," the statement continues. “Wefiled suit against this person nearly a month agoto speak out against extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of families on both sides.“Brooks' statement concluded: “I want to play music… I want to continue our good deeds going forward. It breaks my heart [that] 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.“If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

Garth Brooks in Los Angeles in November 2017.Photo:Greg Doherty/Getty

Greg Doherty/Getty

The legal team of “Jane Roe” — the woman who accusedGarth Brooksofsexual assault and battery— is speaking out after the country music star named her in anew complaintfiled on Oct. 8.Roe’s attorneys issued a statement to PEOPLE after the “Friends in Low Places” singer, 62, refiled his complaint against her, dropping all pseudonyms and naming her in his latest filing, which also accused her of “extortion” and “defamation.”“Garth Brooks just revealed his true self,” Roe’s attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker told PEOPLE in a statement. “With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him. On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately.”Garth Brooks at the Kennedy Center Honors in May 2021.Paul Morigi/GettyBrooksoriginally filed a lawsuit against Roeusing the pseudonym “John Doe” for himself; on Oct. 8, he submitted court documents saying that he would “re-file his [original] complaint without pseudonyms” against “Jane Roe,” claiming her attorneys “disclosed” his identity to the press.In the original filing, Brooks claimed that he was the “victim of a shakedown” and that Roe, who was a former hairstylist and makeup artist for him and his wifeTrish Yearwood, “devised a malicious scheme to blackmail” him into paying her “millions of dollars” after he “rejected her request for salaried employment and medical benefits.”Brooks also claimed that Roe “threatened” to “publicly disclose false claims” about him that would “imperil his business and reputation,” referring to the allegations she made in an Oct. 3 complaint against him.Roe alleged in the documents that the country singer exposed his genitals to her, spoke openly about sex and sexual fantasies, changed clothes in her presence and sent sexually explicit text messages to her in 2019. She also alleged that he raped her in a hotel suite and asked her to have “a threesome” with Yearwood, per the documents.Garth Brooks performing in Washington, D.C., in March 2024.Shannon Finney/GettyBrooks has denied the allegations, claiming in astatement to PEOPLEthat he has “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.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“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,” the statement continues. “Wefiled suit against this person nearly a month agoto speak out against extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of families on both sides.“Brooks' statement concluded: “I want to play music… I want to continue our good deeds going forward. It breaks my heart [that] 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.“If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

The legal team of “Jane Roe” — the woman who accusedGarth Brooksofsexual assault and battery— is speaking out after the country music star named her in anew complaintfiled on Oct. 8.

Roe’s attorneys issued a statement to PEOPLE after the “Friends in Low Places” singer, 62, refiled his complaint against her, dropping all pseudonyms and naming her in his latest filing, which also accused her of “extortion” and “defamation.”

“Garth Brooks just revealed his true self,” Roe’s attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Jeanne M. Christensen and Hayley Baker told PEOPLE in a statement. “With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him. On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately.”

Garth Brooks at the Kennedy Center Honors in May 2021.Paul Morigi/Getty

Paul Morigi/Getty

Brooksoriginally filed a lawsuit against Roeusing the pseudonym “John Doe” for himself; on Oct. 8, he submitted court documents saying that he would “re-file his [original] complaint without pseudonyms” against “Jane Roe,” claiming her attorneys “disclosed” his identity to the press.

In the original filing, Brooks claimed that he was the “victim of a shakedown” and that Roe, who was a former hairstylist and makeup artist for him and his wifeTrish Yearwood, “devised a malicious scheme to blackmail” him into paying her “millions of dollars” after he “rejected her request for salaried employment and medical benefits.”

Brooks also claimed that Roe “threatened” to “publicly disclose false claims” about him that would “imperil his business and reputation,” referring to the allegations she made in an Oct. 3 complaint against him.

Roe alleged in the documents that the country singer exposed his genitals to her, spoke openly about sex and sexual fantasies, changed clothes in her presence and sent sexually explicit text messages to her in 2019. She also alleged that he raped her in a hotel suite and asked her to have “a threesome” with Yearwood, per the documents.

Garth Brooks performing in Washington, D.C., in March 2024.Shannon Finney/Getty

Shannon Finney/Getty

Brooks has denied the allegations, claiming in astatement to PEOPLEthat he has “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.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“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,” the statement continues. “Wefiled suit against this person nearly a month agoto speak out against extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of families on both sides.”

Brooks' statement concluded: “I want to play music… I want to continue our good deeds going forward. It breaks my heart [that] 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.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com