Garth Brooks Rape Accuser Convicts Singer of ‘Sham’ Preemptive Lawsuit

The woman who claimed Garth Brooks forcibly raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2019 is criticizing the country singer’s efforts to have her sexual assault case dismissed in California.

In new court documents obtained from Rolling StoneThe Jane Roe plaintiff is asking a federal judge to reject Brooks’ argument that her highly graphic sexual harassment lawsuit filed Oct. 3 in Los Angeles is “a duplicate” of the defamation and racketeering lawsuit he filed against in Mississippi last September Roe had filed.

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Jane Roe’s lawyers continue to insist that her claims lie in California, where the alleged sexual misconduct occurred. They claim Brooks and his legal team had no right to sue “without notice or warning” on Sept. 13 in Mississippi while they were actively engaged in ongoing, seemingly cordial settlement negotiations that stretched back to July.

“Brooks’ malicious sham operation was nothing more than a forum shopping maneuver,” the lawyers claim in new documents filed Friday. They say the Mississippi lawsuit is “designed to pre-empt their client’s proposed lawsuit in California” and to “deny her access to California’s anti-SLAPP statute,” a law that protects against frivolous claims seeking to to suppress a person’s right to freedom of expression. “Brooks raced to the courthouse to file first in Mississippi – a forum he believed would be more congenial to him than California, in part because Mississippi has no anti-SLAPP law,” the lawyers argue.

In her lawsuit, Roe alleged that Brooks raped her in May 2019 while she was working as his hair and makeup artist for a music industry event. She claimed Brooks, who is a foot taller and more than 100 pounds heavier than her, once held her upside down and “forcibly penetrated her.” Brooks denied this happened.

According to Roe, Brooks sexually assaulted her again during another trip to Los Angeles in October 2019. She claimed he groped her body and breasts and once “held his crotch” while he proposed to her. The woman said she was only able to escape because he was late and there were people waiting for him. Brooks denied ever attacking Roe.

Roe’s lawyers argue in the new filing that she deserves a California jury. “The main relevant events took place in Los Angeles, California. Not a single act or event underlying any alleged cause of action by Brooks occurred in Mississippi,” the filings state.

The attorneys also condemn Brooks for exposing her client, using her real name and including photos of her in files filed in Mississippi after she filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles. They say that following Brooks’ “underhand revenge tactics,” their client himself filed a motion to dismiss his Mississippi complaint. This case is now closed. “This court should not reward Brooks for his malicious actions,” Roe’s lawyers said in their filing Friday, asking that his motion to dismiss be rejected.

Brooks’ lawyers did not immediately respond Rolling Stones Request for comment sent on Monday.

In his Sept. 13 preemptive action in Mississippi, Brooks claimed he was the victim of a “persistent extortion attempt.” He called the woman’s claims “outrageous” and urged the court to declare them false. In his motion to dismiss in California, Brooks claimed he was the victim of “extortion.”

“Roe asked Brooks for increasing financial support, which he ultimately refused, and she responded with false and outrageous allegations of sexual misconduct that she claims occurred years ago,” his dismissal motion says. “Roe attempted to extort Brooks by offering not to publicly raise her false allegations in a lawsuit in exchange for a multimillion-dollar payment.”

A hearing on Brooks’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit in California was scheduled for Dec. 9, but both sides have asked that the hearing be postponed for a week, to Dec. 16. A judge still has to decide.

In a previous statement, Brooks denied Roe’s allegations. “For the past two months, I have been endlessly plagued with threats, lies and tragic stories about what my future would be if I did not write a multi-million dollar check,” the country singer said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “It was like a loaded gun was being waved in my face.”

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