Garth Brooks denies rape allegations by former hair and makeup artist

Country music star Garth Brooks denied rape allegations against him. The singer maintained that he trusts "the system" and is not afraid of the truth. In addition, he claimed that he has been threatened with these accusations for months.

"For the past two months, I have been relentlessly harassed with threats, lies and tragic stories about what my future would be if I didn't sign a check for many millions of dollars. It's been like having a loaded gun pointed in my face," Brooks said in a statement sent to USA Today.

He stressed that in his view, agreeing to pay to silence someone would be admitting that he was guilty, which is why he refused to do it.

"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," he said.

He explained that he filed a lawsuit against the person who is accusing him of rape.

"We filed suit against this person nearly a month ago to speak out against extortion and defamation of character. We filed it anonymously for the sake of families on both sides," the singer said.

The country star has a lawsuit filed against him in California for rape. The woman was identified in the lawsuit with the pseudonym Jane Roe. She said the singer subjected her on several occasions to unwanted sexual advances, such as grabbing her by her private parts or flashing himself in front of her when they were working together in 2019.

"Sexual predators exist not only in corporate America, Hollywood and the rap and rock and roll industries, but also in the country music world," the plaintiff's lawyers, Douglas Wigdor, Jeanne Christensen and Hayley Baker, told AFP in a statement.

Roe's complaint says she initially worked for Brooks' wife, Trisha Yearwood, as a hair and makeup artist in 1999. She began working for Brooks in 2017.

The document claims the woman was at Brooks' home when he entered the room with an erection and forced her to touch him while speaking lewdly. It also says that in May 2019, the two traveled together to Las Vegas, where she was shocked to discover they shared a hotel suite with only one bedroom.

The lawsuit demands unspecified financial compensation.