Garth Brooks Speaks Out After Rape Allegations, Lawsuit: 'I Am Not the Man They Have Painted Me to Be'

Garth Brooks is speaking out after he was accused of sexual assault and rape in a lawsuit filed by a former employee.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the country legend, 62, claimed, "For the last two months, I have 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. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face."

Brooks added, “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. 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."

In conclusion, Brooks said: “I want to play music tonight. I want to continue our good deeds going forward. It breaks my heart these wonderful things are in question now. I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”

Following Brooks speaking out, attorney Douglas H. Wigdor representing the woman — who filed as Jane Roe — said in a statement: "We are very confident in our case and over time the public will see his true character rather than his highly curated persona."

A woman who previously worked as a hairstylist and makeup artist for the star filed an anonymous complaint in California state court on Oct. 3, alleging that in 2019, Brooks raped her, exposed his genitals and buttocks, spoke openly about sex and related fantasies, changed clothes in her presence and sent sexually explicit text messages.

Though this marks Brooks’ first time speaking publicly about the suit, he previously denied the woman’s claims in a complaint filed with the intention of blocking her allegations from going public. That suit was filed anonymously in Mississippi in September as “John Doe,” according to the complaint.

In that filing, which was obtained by PEOPLE, Doe accused the woman of being a “lying extortionist who intended on destroying his professional reputation.”

"[Her] allegations are not true. [She] is well aware, however, of the substantial, irreparable damage such false allegations would do to Plaintiff’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 John Doe complaint reads. “Indeed, such knowledge no doubt explains why [she] threatened to file suit through a 'confidential' demand letter rather than simply filing suit to redress her alleged (but untrue) injuries."

The woman, who filed as Jane Roe, said in the filing that she initially worked for Brooks’ wife Trisha Yearwood starting in 1999, and began working for the “Friends in Low Places” singer in 2017.

She alleges that he used his power as her employer to get the “sexual gratification” he “believes he is entitled to,” and that he raped her in a hotel suite in May 2019 while on a business trip to Los Angeles. Roe called the alleged rape “painful and traumatic,” and said he attempted to rape her once more that October, but had to leave for another engagement.

The complaint accuses Brooks of various other incidents, too, including him allegedly forcing Roe to touch his erect penis, and asking if she would have “a threesome” with Yearwood, whom he married in 2005.

According to the complaint, Roe stopped working for Brooks and moved to Mississippi around May 2021.

“We applaud our client’s courage in moving forward with her complaint against Garth Brooks," her attorneys said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. "The complaint filed today demonstrates that sexual predators exist not only in corporate America, Hollywood and in the rap and rock and roll industries but also in the world of country music. We are confident that Brooks will be held accountable for his actions and his efforts to silence our client through the filing of a preemptive complaint in Mississippi was nothing other than an act of desperation and attempted intimidation. We encourage others who may have been victimized to contact us as no survivor should suffer in silence.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.