A former manager for Jimmie Allen filed a lawsuit against the country music star Thursday, alleging the singer raped and sexually abused her over the course of 18 months in a pattern of behavior that was so pervasive, she says, she contemplated suicide.
Allen denied the allegations in a statement to Scripps News, admitting to a sexual relationship with the woman — identified in the lawsuit only as Jane Doe — but saying that his encounters with her were consensual.
The woman says Allen's abuse started immediately when she began representing him in 2020. At the time, she worked for Wide Open Music, a Nashville-based management company. She alleges repeated verbal harassment took place in private and in public, including in front of audiences. In March 2021, she says, Allen raped her for the first time.
The woman's lawsuit alleges it happened after a dinner in Los Angeles with Allen and industry executives.
"While she only drank a couple of glasses of white wine, Plaintiff does not remember anything after dinner that evening," the lawsuit says. "She lost consciousness and awoke naked in her hotel room several hours later, with Jimmie Allen insisting she take Plan B as soon as possible."
Plan B is a contraceptive designed to help prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex.
"Disoriented and confused, Plaintiff was bleeding vaginally," the suit continues. "Plaintiff felt mortified and humiliated. She realized she had lost her virginity through no choice of her own and felt she had betrayed her faith."
Allen was engaged to his now-wife at the time. The couple separated last month.
In a statement to Scripps News, Allen said, "It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations that have no truth to them whatsoever. I acknowledge that we had a sexual relationship — one that lasted for nearly two years. During that time, she never once accused me of any wrongdoing, and she spoke of our relationship and friendship as being something she wanted to continue indefinitely. Only after things ended between us, did she hire a lawyer to reach out and ask for money, which leads me to question her motives. The simple fact is, her accusations are not only false, but also extremely damaging. I've worked incredibly hard to build my career, and I intend to mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation."
The legal team representing Allen's accuser told Variety, which first reported the news, that their team didn't ask Allen for money prior to filing the lawsuit. They claim they approached the singer "to discuss Allen's behavior and resolution of our client's claims." Only after threats from Allen did they file a lawsuit seeking damages, they told the outlet.
The woman says the abuse continued for more than a year after. It included grabbing her breasts and buttocks and putting his hand down her pants in public.
"When Plaintiff drove Allen to and from events, he sexually abused her at red lights, in green rooms, on airplanes, and in other places she was required to be to support him at events," the suit says. "He raped her in private while choking her."
On multiple occasions, she says, Allen taped sexual interactions to use as blackmail against her.
In February 2022, Allen's accuser says she nearly collapsed while on a set in Honolulu. At a nearby emergency room, she says a doctor told her to, "'run' and get far away from Allen, documenting the vaginal trauma on her person."
The lawsuit also targets Wide Open Music, accusing the company of firing Jane Doe after she told them about the abuse and assault. She also says the company didn't adequately prepare her for or warn her about Allen's behavior.
When she was assigned to work with Allen in 2020, the accuser says Wide Open Music founder Ash Bowers told her Allen was known to push sexual boundaries and described him as "promiscuous but 'harmless,'" according to the lawsuit.
The woman informed the company about difficulty working with Allen in 2021 and told them the following year he was humiliating her. She did not inform them of the rape or other assault until October 2022, at which time Wide Open Music ended their representation of Allen. They also terminated Jane Doe.
Bowers told Variety the woman was not fired as retaliation for reporting Allen's behavior but that her job was eliminated since the company no longer represented Allen, her assigned client.
Nonetheless, the lawsuit accuses the company and Bowers of gross negligence, saying given the accuser's visible and voiced distress and Allen's known behavior, Bowers or other representatives of the company should have investigated much earlier.
Since the lawsuit's filing, consequences for Allen have been swift. His record label reportedly suspended him, as did United Talent Agency. The company told Scripps News, "We have suspended our representation of Jimmie Allen due to the recent allegations against him, which we take seriously."
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