Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Following his charges on October 3, Garth Brooks’s efforts to have the charges against him dismissed were rejected by the court.
On December 17, Rolling Stone reported that the court denied the country singer’s request to dismiss the lawsuit against him. Court records reveal the singer argued that the case was “duplicate” with a previous lawsuit alleging defamation and extortion that he filed against his accuser earlier this year.
The judge overseeing Brooks’ case unceremoniously denied the singer’s request, before halting his legal battle. As a result, the claim was criticized by attorneys for the accuser, who is said to be Brooks’ former stylist and makeup artist. According to the complaint, the hairstylist alleges she was raped by Brooks in 2019.
Brooks’ preemptive lawsuit in September was also described by the accuser’s attorney as a “forum shopping tactic.”
The singer’s September lawsuit also attempts to deny accusers access to the anti-SLAPP statute. This law protects individuals from frivolous claims that seek to suppress someone’s right to free speech.
The anonymous plaintiff, Jane Roe, accused Brooks of multiple instances of sexual assault. One of them was when she and Brooks went to Los Angeles, where the stylist was denied a private room for her at the hotel. The allegation recounts how the accuser was raped in bed.
In another incident, the accuser claimed Brooks sexually assaulted her after coming out of the bathroom naked.
Tags Garth Brooks, Court