Garth Brooks is stressed out about legal woes more than ever after his lawyer lost an appeal to throw out the rape case. However, there’s no time for him to stew or mope as he faces a heavy schedule in 2025 on top of his ongoing private problems.
“Garth continues to protest [that the allegations are] baloney, but he’s been made to suffer. He can’t believe the judge has ruled against him,” a source exclusively tells In Touch. “He’s maintained from the get-go that it’s a joke of a lawsuit and he’s determined to prove his innocence in the long run.”
The insider says that the “Friends in Low Places” singer, 62, is “sticking tight to [his wife,] Trisha [Yearwood,] and listening to his lawyers,” but the stress from the case is “taking its toll” on him.
“His pain isn’t going away,” the source continues. “On top of it, he feels pressured to perform for the fans. In an ideal world, he’d take a break, but he’s got to be professional and keep it together. It’s a lot to take on at once. He comes off stage and the next day he’s in meetings with his lawyer. This has been a big blow for him.”
Even though the claims are “still hanging over him like a dark cloud,” the insider says that the Grammy winner doesn’t have much downtime to recoup.
“He’s got to go on the road and perform for fans and deal with lawyers while trying to stay as positive as possible during this lawsuit hell,” the source reveals. “Even if he wins the case, he must fear the stigma will follow him the rest of his life.”
In October 2024, a woman listed as “Jane Roe” in court documents filed a lawsuit against Garth and accused him of sexual assault and battery. The woman claimed to have previously worked for the country star as a hair and makeup artist and alleged that she was raped by Garth in 2019.
In the court documents viewed by In Touch, Jane also claimed that Garth repeatedly exposed his genitals and buttocks to her, changed his clothes while in her presence and sent her sexually explicit texts. She also alleged that in 2019, she was at Garth’s home and he exited the shower while naked and “grabbed her hands and forced them” on his genitals while saying sexually explicit and vulgar phrases.
Garth had previously denied all of Jane’s allegations and filed his own lawsuit against her in an attempt to prevent her from speaking publicly about the case.
“[Jane’s] allegations are not true. [Jane] is well aware, however, of the substantial, irreparable damage such false allegations would do to [Garth’s] well-earned reputation as a decent and caring person, along with the unavoidable damage to his family and the irreparable damage to his career and livelihood that would result if she made good on her threat to ‘publicly file’ her fabricated lawsuit,” the lawsuit read.
In December 2024, an Austin, Texas, news outlet reported that “amid misconduct allegations, Brooks appeared to have been removed from the Austin City Limits’ 50th anniversary anniversary programming.” However, an executive producer for the event said that wasn’t true.
“Garth Brooks Austin City Limits Hall of Fame special is airing in Spring 2025 as intended,” Terry Lickona told My San Antonio in an article published on December 13, 2024. “Garth had asked us to hold off airing until after his Vegas residency; the specific air date will be announced in the near future.”
Garth’s Vegas residency is scheduled to continue through March 9.