Oct. 4 (UPI) — Garth Brooks has issued a statement in response to accusations of rape and sexual assault made by a former makeup artist.
“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,” he told ABC News. “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 behavior in question was described in a lawsuit filed by a woman identified as Jane Roe, who said that Brooks raped her in May 2019.
“With cold disregard for Ms. Roe, when Brooks finished, it was business as usual,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Roe worked quickly to style his hair and do his make-up for the event so he was on time.”
Roe says she did makeup for Trisha Yearwood, Brooks’ wife, beginning in 1999, and worked with Brooks between 2017 and 2021.
Her lawsuit also describes unwanted explicit communication and occasions of sexual assault, ABC reported.
Brooks had filed his own lawsuit against her in September.
“We filed suit against this person nearly a month ago to speak out against extortion and defamation of character,” he said.
His own anonymous filing claims that Roe had sent correspondence about the alleged assault and her belief that Brooks wanted to kill her, NPR reports.
Brooks says that she offered to remain quiet if he sent her money.