'That really happened' - Garth Brooks in Irish special update amid rape allegations

US country music star has given an update on an upcoming TV special centred around his return to Ireland for five gigs in Croke Park in 2022.

The Friends in Low Places singer was speaking amid shock rape allegations made by a former employee. The woman alleges that Brooks raped her in a hotel room in 2019, an allegation Brooks strenuously denies.

“I am not the man they have painted me to be," he said in a statement last week after the woman filed a lawsuit. He said the it is an attempt at extortion for “millions of dollars."

In a statement to the PA news agency, Brooks said: “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.

“Hush money, no matter how much or how little, is still hush money. In my mind, that means I am admitting to behaviour I am incapable of – ugly acts no human should ever do to another.

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“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.”

Meanwhile, Garth was engaging with fans on a Facebook live last week and said he could not talk much about "the elephant in the room." Instead, he answered fan questions and talked about upcoming projects.

He also spoke about the Irish TV special which has been in the works since the gigs in Croke Park in 2022.

He revealed his band and crew have been given a first look at what he's dubbed "the Irish special."

"It's not even transferred to 4k yet or 8k, whatever they're going to do with it, and it looked amazing." A crew member off camera who'd seen it said, "It's everything you'd hoped it would be and then some."

Garth added: "I look at it and think, 'I was there, that really happened,' it's so good. There were standing ovations through the night from the band and crew because they were just going for it."

Keeping tight-lipped about a release date, he said: "All I can say is it's coming. We'll see, with everything that's going on, where it's home is and what the time is."

He previously said: "It's going to be worth the wait. When I see it, I just cry the whole time."

"When you think about it, it's just 85,000 people that are one and this happened five nights in a row. They came there to sing. This will be the one concert you'll go, 'I can't hear Garth,' and you won't. They just swallow it up and it's fantastic," he added.

"It makes an entertainer's job very easy. For anybody that gets to play music, you're damn lucky if you get to play in Ireland and I'll be damn lucky if I get to play there again. I love that place," he added hinting at a possible return to these shores.

He previously announced that live recordings from Croke Park would also be featured on his new live album called Killer Live. While not specifically saying which tracks from Croke Park will feature, he said, "we've got a lot of good things coming."

One hint came in a previous live video when Garth mentioned his performance of The Dance in Croke Park as a stand-out moment.

"Reliving the thought right now, I'm sitting here crying, especially The Dance," he said.

"Should anyone get through The Dance without crying, because everyone in the crowd's crying. It's great.

"The guys that captured it did a great job but the crowd, their voices. They'll do the big drone and helicopter shots and just that sound coming out of that stadium, of all those voices singing together. Man, it will rock your world."