Garth Brooks, after making the controversial decision to name his anonymous rape accuser in a recent court filing, has now submitted photos of Jane Roe as evidence.
Earlier this week, Brooks’ legal team filed a motion opposing Roe’s efforts to sanction Brooks and have his amended complaint — in which he revealed her real name — sealed or redacted. Brooks’ lawyers have argued that their decision to identify Roe was in response to actions she took to publicize the case, as well as allegedly identifying descriptions Roe included in her own legal filings.
Brooks’ lawyers claim that in the lawsuit Roe filed in California, “she describes herself as a Mississippian with a thirty-plus-year career who has worked as a trusted make-up artist and hair stylist” to Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood. It also mentions a 2022 magazine profile on Roe, which “touted her professional relationship” with the couple and included a photo of the three of them, allegedly provided by Roe. This magazine spread, as well as a poster advertising Roe’s services, were submitted as evidence along with the objection.
Roe’s lawyers declined to comment on the matter.
Roe sued Brooks earlier this month, accusing the country music star of sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions in 2019. During one instance, on a trip to Los Angeles, she alleged that Brooks “trapped” her in a hotel room, “grabbed her hands and pulled her” onto a bed, and raped her.
Brooks has denied the allegations. He also tried to preemptively combat Roe’s suit with a complaint of his own filed in federal court in Mississippi, which is where the current battle over Roe’s identity is taking place. That suit, brought in September, was originally filed anonymously as “John Doe v. Jane Roe”; Roe’s lawyer confirmed Brooks brought that suit after Roe filed her own complaint in October.
Brooks has claimed that he wanted to proceed with pseudonyms and redactions, but Roe “opposed” his motion for joint pseudonymity “in its entirety.” Brooks’ lawyers say Roe “urged the Court that both parties to this case should proceed under their own names.” Their new motion also cited a line from a previous filing from Roe’s attorneys that stated she was “willing to proceed using her name here if this Court believes that is necessary” to deny Brooks’ motion for joint pseudonymity.
After Brooks’ legal team identified Roe in their amended complaint earlier this month, Roe’s lawyers, Douglas Wigdor, Jeanne Christensen, and Hayley Baker, issued a statement 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.”
