Garth Brooks found himself embroiled in a sexual assault case after a woman accused him of forcibly raping her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2019. Now, the woman has slammed the country singer's attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed in California.
In newly filed court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the plaintiff, identified as Jane Roe, is urging a federal judge to deny Brooks' claim that her detailed sexual assault lawsuit, filed on October 3 in Los Angeles, is "duplicative" of the defamation and extortion lawsuit he filed against her in Mississippi last September.
Jane Roe's legal team insists her claims should be heard. They argue that Brooks and his attorneys acted improperly by filing a lawsuit in Mississippi on September 13 "without any notice or warning," despite ongoing and seemingly amicable settlement negotiations that began in July.
"Brooks' bad faith, sham action was nothing but a forum-shopping maneuver," the lawyers claim in the new paperwork filed Friday. The Mississippi lawsuit was "meant to preempt" their client's proposed California complaint and "deny her access" to California's anti-SLAPP statute, a law that safeguards against frivolous claims designed to muzzle someone's right to free speech, the lawyers went on to say. "Brooks raced to the courthouse to file first in Mississippi – a forum he believed would be more sympathetic to him than California in part because Mississippi does not have an anti-SLAPP law," the lawyers argue.
In a previous statement, Brooks disputed Roe's allegations. "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," the country singer said in a statement to Rolling Stone. "It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face."
The Recording Industry Association of America recognizes him as the top-selling solo artist in history, with nearly 150 million albums sold. Amid Garth Brooks' ongoing legal troubles, here's how much the singer's net worth is as of 2024.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Garth Brooks and his wife, Tricia Yearwood, share a combined net worth of $400 million, with $300 million to $350 million attributed to Brooks. The website compiles data from public sources and input from celebrities or their representatives.
Brooks has achieved remarkable milestones in his career, including nine RIAA-certified diamond albums, each selling at least 10 million copies, and nine albums that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
