As of mid-2025, the Garth Brooks sexual assault lawsuit remains unresolved on two fronts: the accuser’s civil case in California is stayed, and Brooks’ own preemptive lawsuit in Mississippi is still active after a federal judge declared her motion to dismiss it moot on May 1, 2025. No trial date has been set in either court, and no settlement has been reported.
Current Status of Both Cases
The California case, filed October 3, 2024, in Los Angeles Superior Court by a former makeup artist and hairstylist identified as “Jane Roe,” was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on November 1, 2024, and assigned case number 2:24-cv-09462.1PACER Monitor. Jane Roe v. Garth Brooks On December 11, 2024, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald denied Brooks’ motion to dismiss without prejudice and stayed the case pending the outcome of the Mississippi proceedings. He ordered Brooks to notify the California court of any Mississippi rulings within ten court days.2NewsNation. Garth Brooks Lawsuit
In Mississippi, Roe filed a motion in November 2024 to dismiss Brooks’ lawsuit. On May 1, 2025, U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate ruled the motion was moot and said he would not issue a written order.3Clarion Ledger. Judge Rules After Woman Accusing Garth Brooks of Rape Wants Mississippi Lawsuit Dropped The practical effect is ambiguous. A mootness finding can signal a case has effectively run its course, but reporting as of May 2025 indicated the Mississippi case had not been formally dismissed and was continuing. As of that same month, no filings showed that the California court had been notified of Judge Wingate’s ruling, despite the ten-day notification order from December.4WLBT. Judge Declares Motion to Dismiss Garth Brooks Mississippi Lawsuit Moot
What the Accuser Alleges
Roe began providing hair and makeup services for Brooks’ wife, Trisha Yearwood, in 1999 and started working directly for Brooks in 2017.5CNN. Garth Brooks Accused of Sexual Assault The complaint alleges Brooks increased her workload starting in 2019 after learning she was in financial difficulty, and exploited that hardship to pressure her into sexual contact.6Entertainment Weekly. Garth Brooks Accused of Rape and Battery in Lawsuit by Former Hair and Makeup Artist
The most serious allegation involves a May 2019 trip to Los Angeles for a Grammy tribute to Sam Moore. Roe claims Brooks booked a single hotel suite with no separate room for her, appeared naked in a doorway, and raped her.7BBC News. Garth Brooks Accused of Rape in Lawsuit The complaint also describes a 2019 incident at Brooks’ home in which he allegedly came out of the shower naked and forced her hands onto his genitals, and alleges a broader pattern including repeated exposure, groping, sexually explicit messages, and multiple proposals that she participate in a threesome with Yearwood.8ABC7 New York. Anonymous Celebrity Lawsuit Asks Court to Declare Sexual Assault Allegations Untrue The suit brings claims of assault, battery, sexual battery, and violations of California’s Bane Act, Ralph Act, and gender violence statute.6Entertainment Weekly. Garth Brooks Accused of Rape and Battery in Lawsuit by Former Hair and Makeup Artist
Brooks’ Denial and Preemptive Mississippi Suit
Brooks has categorically denied the allegations. In a public statement, he said he had 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,” and called any settlement “hush money.”9NBC News. Garth Brooks Names Rape Accuser, Says He Is Victim of Shakedown
Before Roe filed in California, Brooks filed his own lawsuit on September 13, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, using the pseudonyms “John Doe vs. Jane Roe.” He accused Roe of extortion, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging she fabricated the accusations after he refused her requests for salaried employment and medical benefits. He sought a declaratory judgment that the allegations were untrue, along with damages and an injunction against further publication.10ABC News. Garth Brooks Files Lawsuit in Response to Rape and Sexual Assault Allegations The demand letters preceding suit came from Roe’s attorneys at Wigdor LLP on July 17 and August 23, 2024; Brooks’ team has characterized the settlement demand as “multi-million dollar.”11Clarion Ledger. Garth Brooks Accuser Case in Mississippi
Brooks’ attorneys argue the two cases should be consolidated and that Roe’s California claims are compulsory counterclaims belonging in Mississippi. Roe’s attorneys call the Mississippi filing a “sham action” and “forum-shopping maneuver” meant to circumvent California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which protects against litigation aimed at suppressing legally protected speech.3Clarion Ledger. Judge Rules After Woman Accusing Garth Brooks of Rape Wants Mississippi Lawsuit Dropped
The Fight Over the Accuser’s Name
Both parties initially filed under pseudonyms. After Roe’s California complaint identified Brooks publicly on October 3, 2024, Brooks’ team filed an amended Mississippi complaint on October 8 that revealed Roe’s real name. Roe’s attorneys filed an emergency motion on October 9 asking the court to seal or redact filings containing her name and to sanction Brooks for disclosing the identity of a person alleging rape without her consent.9NBC News. Garth Brooks Names Rape Accuser, Says He Is Victim of Shakedown
Judge Wingate held a hearing on October 18, 2024, but did not rule from the bench. After roughly three hours of questioning, he ordered that “everything is to be held in stasis” pending his decision and requested additional information from Roe’s counsel.12WLBT. Judge Wants More Info Before Deciding Motion to Seal Garth Brooks Case
What Hasn’t Happened
Brooks has continued to perform. He played a sold-out show at his Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace shortly after the California lawsuit became public in October 2024.13New York Post. Garth Brooks Performs in Vegas Amid Sexual Assault Claims No concert cancellations or dropped sponsorships have been publicly reported. A source close to the couple told People in July 2025 that the litigation “didn’t affect their relationship at all.”14People. Garth Brooks Lawsuit Didn’t Affect Marriage With Trisha Yearwood
The next moves to watch are procedural. The California case stays frozen until Mississippi resolves, and the Mississippi case has not been formally dismissed despite the May 2025 mootness ruling. Any renewed motion practice in California, a written order from Judge Wingate, or a filing notifying the California court of the Mississippi ruling would each shift the picture. None had occurred as of the most recent reporting.