Garth Brooks' alleged assault case gets uglier as he outs anonymous accuser

Lawyers for the anonymous accuser alleging that Garth Brooks assaulted and raped her have condemned Brooks and his team for revealing her identity in a recent court filing. Brooks’ situation is legally complicated. He was the first to file a suit for extortion and defamation against the woman, a hair and makeup artist who worked with him and his wife Trisha Yearwood. His suit was filed pseudonymously as “John Doe vs. Jane Roe,” with Doe identified as “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Tennessee.” Jane Roe responded by filing her own suit against Brooks with the assault allegations. 

After Brooks’ latest filing revealed Jane Roe’s name, her lawyers gave a statement to The Wrap saying, “Garth Brooks just revealed his true self. Out of spite and to punish, he publicly named a rape victim. 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.”

The reveal of Jane Roe’s identity appears to be at least somewhat retaliatory. The latest filing states that Brooks had filed his original suit anonymously “For the sake of his family, and out of respect for Roe’s family as well.” However, the filing goes on (via The Wrap), “Rather than allow this Court to consider and adjudicate Plaintiff’s request, Roe wrested the decision from the Court. While Plaintiff’s Motion to proceed under a pseudonym was pending, and before it was even fully briefed, Roe’s counsel, Douglas Wigdor, revealed to CNN that Plaintiff was world-famous musician and humanitarian Garth Brooks. CNN published Roe’s counsel’s on-the-record quote on October 3, 2024, two days after Roe represented to this Court that she purportedly ‘respects this Court’s authority’ to decide whether Mr. Doe can proceed under a pseudonym.” Since Roe’s team revealed Brooks’ identity, his lawyers considered the anonymous suit “moot” and decided to refile under both their names. 

Brooks filed his preemptive lawsuit “to preserve his reputation, establish the truth, and put a stop to her scheme,” according to legal documents from his side of the case. He accused Jane Roe of “ongoing attempted extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress through outrageous conduct including the publication and threatened wider publication of false allegations of sexual misconduct that would irreparably harm Plaintiff’s reputation, family, career and livelihood.”

Brooks has denied the allegations against him. His recent suit claims that Jane Roe reached out to ask Brooks for financial assistance after she moved from Tennessee to Mississippi. Brooks says he gave her financial support until she asked for “salaried employment and medical benefits.” When Brooks refused, Jane Roe allegedly threatened to go public with what his filing characterizes as “false and outrageous allegations of sexual misconduct she claims occurred years ago.” Roe has alleged sexual assault and harassment and claims that Brooks raped her in a hotel room in 2019.