Garth Brooks is a rustic music icon and performer with dozens of hits and tens of millions of albums bought, however he is now going through surprising new allegations, including to an inventory of controversies he is confronted over time.
A former make-up artist for Brooks filed a lawsuit Thursday, accusing the singer of sexual assault and battery.
Brooks, 62, allegedly raped “Jane Roe” in 2019 throughout a piece journey, in keeping with court docket paperwork obtained by Fox Information Digital. Per the paperwork, the lady was first employed in 1999 to do the make-up and hairstyling for Brooks’ spouse, Trisha Yearwood. She started working for Brooks doing make-up and hair in 2017, just a few years earlier than the alleged occasions passed off.
Brooks shared a press release with Fox Information Digital on Thursday, denying the allegations. “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 examine for a lot of tens of millions of {dollars}. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face,” the assertion started.
Garth Brooks has been accused of sexual assault and battery in a brand new lawsuit. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs)
Brooks continued, “Hush cash, regardless of how a lot or how little, continues to be hush cash. In my thoughts, which means I’m admitting to conduct I’m incapable of—ugly acts no human ought to ever do to a different. We filed go well with in opposition to this individual practically 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.”Â
GARTH BROOKS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND BATTERY BY HIS MAKEUP ARTIST IN NEW LAWSUIT
“I wish to play music tonight. I wish to proceed our good deeds going ahead. It breaks my coronary heart these great 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’ assertion concluded.
“I belief the system, I don’t worry the reality, and I’m not the person they’ve painted me to be.”
In accordance with the grievance, Brooks and the make-up artist traveled to Los Angeles in 2019 for a Grammys tribute to R&B singer Sam Moore. As a substitute of getting separate rooms, “Jane Roe” claimed just one room was booked for the 2 of them to share.
“After they arrived, all of a sudden Brooks appeared within the doorway to the bed room, utterly bare,” the grievance learn. “He stood there and flexed his muscle tissues. Ms. Roe instantly had a sick feeling in her abdomen, understanding she was trapped within the room alone with Brooks, with nobody to assist and much away from Nashville.”
The nation star then allegedly raped her.
Jane Roe’s grievance additionally accused Brooks of brazenly speaking about intercourse in entrance of her, exposing his genitals, sharing sexual fantasies along with her, texting her specific messages and groping her breasts. He’s additionally alleged to have taken benefit of her monetary hardship on the time, with the frequency of the sexually charged interactions rising after the 2019 alleged rape.
Brooks allegedly booked just one room for him and the lady accusing him, generally known as “Jane Roe” within the submitting, and after showing bare within the doorway to the bed room, he allegedly raped her. (Jesse Grant/Getty Photographs for NAMM)
“We applaud our consumer’s braveness in transferring ahead along with her grievance in opposition to Garth Brooks,” attorneys for “Jane Roe” mentioned in a press release obtained by Fox Information Digital. “The grievance 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.
“We’re assured that Brooks might be held accountable for his actions and his efforts to silence our consumer via the submitting of a preemptive grievance in Mississippi was nothing apart from an act of desperation and tried intimidation. We encourage others who could have been victimized to contact us as no survivor ought to undergo in silence.”
The brand new allegations in opposition to Brooks are by far essentially the most surprising, however he is had his share of controversy all through his multidecade profession.
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Bud Mild drama
In 2023, Brooks drew backlash after he entered the fray about Bud Mild and its partnership with transgender activist and TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.
Brooks opened The Associates In Low Locations Bar & Honky Tonk in Nashville, Tennessee, and spoke about his plans for the bar in an interview with Billboard, which embody promoting “each model of beer.”
“I would like it to be a spot you’re feeling secure in. I would like it to be a spot the place you’re feeling like there are manners and other people like each other. And, sure, we’re going to serve each model of beer. We simply are. It’s not our choice to make,” Brooks mentioned throughout a panel for Billboard Nation Dwell. “Our factor is that this: For those who [are let] into this home, love each other. For those who’re an a–hole, there are many different locations on decrease Broadway.”
Whereas some followers had been supportive of Brooks, others had been vocal of their disapproval of his feedback and choice to promote Bud Mild.
Garth Brooks mentioned he would carry each type of beer at his new Nashville bar throughout the preliminary controversy in 2023. (Suzanne Cordeiro)
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“For those who reside in Tennessee, I like to recommend you by no means go to @garthbrooks new bar. They’re going to promote Bud Mild and apparently he thinks we’re ‘a—holes’ if we don’t prefer it. Be certain that all your folks know that,” one individual wrote on Twitter.
One other spoke of eliminating a set of Brooks’ music, noting, “My trash bin is full…I threw out the whole lot that had Garth Brooks title on it.”
“I used to be an enormous fan of yours again within the early nineties, earlier than you fell into the lure of being a star…,” a 3rd wrote. ‘It was at all times about your followers. Now, we’re, ‘a–holes’ for boycotting Budweiser? Welcome to the boycott.”
Followers had been essential of Brooks for weighing in on the Bud Mild drama. (Shannon Finney)
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Household struggles
Brooks has been fortunately married to fellow nation icon Trisha Yearwood for practically twenty years however has admitted he wasn’t at all times the best associate.
“I sucked at being a husband. I used to be horrible at it. I used to be horrible at being a dad. I needed to get my s— collectively,” Brooks instructed Billboard in 2023.
Earlier than his marriage to Yearwood, Brooks was together with his first spouse, Sandy Mahl, from 1986 to 2001. They’ve three daughters collectively: Taylor, August and Allie.
“I used to be on the entrance web page of the USA In the present day for being a nasty husband and man,” Brooks recalled. “I’d have by no means survived that if there had been social media, ever.”
In his “Garth Brooks: The Street I’m On” documentary, Mahl spoke in regards to the toll the singer’s profession took on their marriage.
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Garth Brooks and Sandy Mahl throughout the twenty first annual Folks’s Selection Awards in 1995. Brooks lately admitted he “sucked at being a husband.” (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Assortment by way of Getty Photographs)
“He’d be gone eight to 10 weeks at a time. He’d come house, [and] there could be No. 1 events, or reveals, or CMAs, or ACMs, American Music Awards. So, it was continuously going. However we each grew aside actually, actually shortly,” Mahl mentioned.
“I do not assume both of us had stopped to consider how this could change our lives,” she later added.
In a 2020 interview with Fox Information Digital, Brooks mentioned Mahl’s perspective stunned him however gave him a higher understanding of their previous.
“I heard issues from her that she instructed me our entire life, however I did not hear them till now,” he mentioned. “And so my respect and love for her is thru the roof for what she went via and the way she’s dealt with it as properly.”
Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks have recognized one another for the reason that late Nineteen Eighties however did not marry till 2005, after they had been each divorced. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for iHeartMedia)
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Brooks and Mahl finalized their divorce in 2001, and the “If Tomorrow By no means Comes” singer married Yearwood in 2005.
The couple initially met within the late Nineteen Eighties however had been married to different individuals and didn’t pursue a relationship till they had been each single.
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“I used to be fortunate sufficient to get to marry my greatest buddy,” Brooks instructed Fox Information Digital. “So, right here you go. We have recognized one another since 1988 or ’87, and so we have type of been via all of it collectively. And we have talked about this a very long time. If we’d have gotten married again within the late ’80s, I do not assume our marriage would have survived the ‘90s or our careers wouldn’t be what they had been.
“So, I feel the whole lot occurs proper on the proper time,” he added. “And if she was the mom of the kids, our three youngsters would not be who they’re both. They obtained the correct amount of their mother in them, the correct amount of me in them and the correct amount of Trisha’s affect in them as properly. So, I feel the whole lot occurs for a cause at a time. And I feel she would most likely inform you an identical factor.”
“I used to be fortunate sufficient to get to marry my greatest buddy,” Brooks instructed Fox Information Digital of Yearwood. (Taylor Hill/WireImage)
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Banned music video
Brooks launched his track “The Thunder Rolls” in 1991, with lyrics alluding to dishonest and abuse. An extra verse, omitted from Brooks’ model however later added by nation star Tanya Tucker in her model, additionally alludes to the spouse within the story looking for revenge via homicide.Â
For the music video, Brooks performed the a part of the dishonest and abusive husband, with scenes that trace on the fourth verse’s contents. In accordance with the 2009 guide “The Garth Issue: The Profession Behind Nation Music’s Large Increase” by Patsi Bale Cox, Brooks’ label screened the music video for a gaggle of girls who accepted of the content material and thought of it a strong assertion in opposition to home violence.
Garth Brooks poses for a portrait session in 1991. That very same 12 months, he launched the controversial music video for “The Thunder Rolls,” which ended up banned on two networks. (James Schnepf)
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The violent nature of the music video obtained it banned by The Nashville Community (TNN) and CMT. A consultant for CMT on the time mentioned the community was “in enterprise to entertain, to not promote or condone gratuitous violence or social points,” in keeping with the guide.
On the time of the video’s controversy, Brooks instructed Leisure Weekly, “That is actual life. The place I’m from, individuals aren’t afraid to speak about it.”
Regardless of the controversy, Brooks received the CMA video of the 12 months award later that 12 months.
Brooks’ controversial music video nonetheless received CMA video of the 12 months. (Beth Gwinn/Getty Photographs)
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‘We Shall Be Free’ and Tremendous Bowl walkout
In 1992, within the wake of the Los Angeles riots, Brooks launched “We Shall Be Free.” The track imagines a world the place persons are free from starvation, homelessness, homophobia and racism and have each freedom of faith and speech.
The next 12 months, Brooks was set to carry out the nationwide anthem at that 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl. He additionally had an settlement with NBC to air the music video for “We Shall Be Free” earlier than the sport.Â
The community initially refused to air the video, which included intense imagery, such because the KKK burning a cross, flag burning, violent incidents, ravenous youngsters, in addition to constructive imagery of individuals coming collectively.Â
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Brooks reportedly left the stadium 45 minutes earlier than he was to carry out. In accordance with his 2019 A&E documentary, “Garth Brooks: The Street I’m On,” Brooks felt the community was making excuses for not airing the video.Â
NBC reportedly regarded for a last-minute alternative however finally agreed to air the video, and Brooks carried out “The Star Spangled Banner” as deliberate, accompanied by Oscar winner Marlee Matlin performing the track in American Signal Language.
Deaf actress Marlee Matlin joined Garth Brooks for his efficiency of the nationwide anthem on the 1993 Tremendous Bowl. (George Rose)
In accordance with former NFL Govt Director Don Weiss’ guide, “The Making of the Tremendous Bowl: The Inside Story of the World’s Best Sporting Occasion,” Brooks’ strolling out resulted within the requirement that each one Tremendous Bowl renditions of the nationwide anthem be prerecorded.
Brooks celebrated the twenty fifth anniversary of the track in 2017 with an up to date music video launched on his Fb web page.Â
“I didn’t assume it could be controversial, however when this track first got here out, it was not welcomed with opened arms,” Brooks instructed Folks in 2017. “I assume I’m at all times stunned as a result of, I assume, I’m simply a type of ignorant guys who thinks that everyone kinda feels the identical and, man, we don’t.”
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Chris Gaines alter ego
After 10 years of dominating the charts, Brooks unexpectedly offered his alter ego, Chris Gaines.
Gaines was a fictional rock musician from Australia with darkish hair and a soul patch. The character appeared in a mock episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music,” and there was even a possible Chris Gaines biopic. When Brooks hosted “Saturday Evening Dwell” that 12 months, he appeared as himself however carried out as Gaines because the episode’s musical visitor.
An album was launched, “Garth Brooks in…The Lifetime of Chris Gaines,” put collectively as a biggest hits of Gaines’ earlier (and nonexistent) 5 albums. Regardless of the confusion created by the character, Brooks scored a Billboard Prime 40 pop single with the track “Misplaced In You.”
The album cowl for the Chris Gaines character created by Garth Brooks. (Capitol Data)
In a latest interview throughout Billboard Nation Dwell, Brooks mentioned he nonetheless cherished the character and was keen on doing extra with Gaines.
“The Gaines mission was loads of time put in as a result of it’s not pure. You’re performing on a report, however I wish to do it merely for individuals who love the Gaines mission,” the 61-year-old mentioned.
Brooks stands by his Chris Gaines character and would probably wish to create extra as Gaines sooner or later. (Terry Wyatt/Getty Photographs for Nation Music Corridor of Fame and Museum)
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“And, selfishly, I like the Chris Gaines report. So, I wish to do it for me. It challenged me as a vocalist,” added Brooks. “So I don’t know after we’re going to get to it, nevertheless it’s on the record.”
