Country music star Garth Brooks has been accused of rape and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by his former hair and make-up artist.
The woman, who does not use her name in the lawsuit and goes by Jane Roe, claims the assault occurred when she travelled from Nashville to Los Angeles with the singer, who was performing at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
The lawsuit – filed on Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court – alleges that despite Brooks normally travelling with an entourage, she and Brooks flew alone to the event on his private jet, and that he had booked just one hotel suite for both of them.
The woman claims that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.
Representatives for Brooks have so far refused to comment.
Garth Brooks with his wife and fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood. Pic: AP
The suit goes on to say Books proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and make-up immediately after.
The woman further alleges that earlier in that same year, when she was at Brooks’ home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.
Pre-empting the allegations, Brooks allegedly filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month in which both him and the woman were anonymous, Thursday’s lawsuit claims.
In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, named as John Doe, said the allegations were “wholly untrue”, and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.
He asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and false light invasion of privacy”.
The lawsuit by Jane Roe claims that on top of the two described incidents, Brooks exposed himself to her on many other occasions, talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.
She says she was forced to keep working for him because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.
The unnamed claimant is believed to have also worked for Brooks’ wife, fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999.
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Oklahoma-born Brooks, 62, was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including Friends In Low Places and The Thunder Rolls.
He remains the number one-selling individual artist in US history with 20 Billboard no 1 singles and 157 million record sales, according to his official website.
In March this year, he finished a residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005.