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Garth Brooks Responds to Sexual Assault Lawsuit: ‘I Am Not the Man They Have Painted Me to Be’

After Garth Brooks was accused of rape in a lawsuit filed Thursday, the country star responded and says he's "not the man they have painted me to be."

Thursday’s lawsuit also brought to light an earlier suit filed last month in Mississippi federal court by an anonymous “celebrity” plaintiff in an effort to keep an accuser from going public with sexual abuse allegations and referring to them as “ongoing attempted extortion.” In a statement sent late Thursday to Billboard, Brooks denies the sexual assault allegations — saying the threats and accusations “felt like having a loaded gun waved in my face” — and confirms that he was behind last month’s mystery Mississippi filing, which he says was done anonymously “for the sake of families on both sides.” “I want to play music tonight,” Brooks concluded, referencing his scheduled concert Thursday evening at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace as part of his ongoing Las Vegas residency.

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