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Country music superstar accused of sexual assault in Strip hotel

Updated June 12, 2023 - 11:29 am

Country musician Jimmie Allen is being sued for sexual assault by a second woman, who claims he secretly filmed the alleged incident at a Las Vegas hotel room.

The new lawsuit comes less than a month since the rising country star was accused of alleged sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, sex trafficking and emotional distress by his former manager, who also claimed she was filmed against her will.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Tennessee federal court alleges that the “Best Shot” and “Warrior” singer sexually assaulted another woman at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas last summer and secretly recorded the encounter. She is seeking a judgment against Allen, along with an unspecified amount in monetary damages and legal fees.

The filing has apparently led Allen’s record label BBR Music to drop him as an “active artist” on its roster after it suspended him in the wake of the earlier allegations from his manager, according to Variety. The label said Friday that it has “dissolved its relationship” with Allen.

The second woman — identified as “Jane Doe 2” in the legal documents obtained Friday by the Los Angeles Times — alleges that in May 2022, she was approached at a Nashville airport by the musician’s bodyguard, Charles Hurd, who is also being sued, along with his employer, Aadyn’s Dad Touring.

Jane Doe 2 alleges that Hurd followed her into the airport and asked if she knew who Allen was, told her that he was a country musician and that Allen wanted her phone number, suggesting they hang out in Nashville later that evening. She said that after a fun evening, Allen allegedly told her he’d be leaving for a tour but would keep in touch.

In the following months, Jane Doe 2 alleges that she and Allen shared daily texts and FaceTime calls. Allen allegedly proclaimed his love for her and shared visions of their future together. According to the suit, he also repeatedly said he was separated from his wife and told Jane Doe 2 that she would be a good stepmother for his children.

The suit states that the alleged assault took place in July 2022. Jane Doe 2 claims that she was invited to meet Allen in Las Vegas and was assured she would have her own hotel room, per her request. The country musician also introduced her as his girlfriend, and his bodyguard showed her his two firearms and told her he was an air marshal, which made her feel safe, she alleges.

When the three of them went to hang out in Allen’s suite at the Cosmopolitan, she was told that her own room was being prepared and that Hurd’s room was next door, she says. Hurd then allegedly excused himself, leaving Jane Doe 2 alone with Allen.

According to the legal documents, Allen then instructed Jane Doe 2 to wait on the balcony, and he disappeared into the room where she assumed he was setting up some kind of romantic surprise. Per the suit, at no point did Allen disclose that he was planning to film their sexual encounter. While Jane Doe 2 states she did consent to sex, she alleges she repeatedly informed Allen that she was not on birth control and asked him to please pull out during intercourse, which she states he agreed to.

As the alleged sexual encounter transpired, she asked Allen again to pull out but says that he refused and told her he wanted to get her pregnant. Then he “passed out on the bed,” the lawsuit says.

Jane Doe 2 states that she was so distressed that Allen had refused her repeated requests that she got up to leave, desperate to find a separate hotel room and purchase a Plan B pill. The suit claims that as she walked past the closet to leave, an interior light switched on, catching her attention. That is when she discovered that Allen had set up his cellphone to record the alleged sexual encounter.

She stopped the recording and deleted the video, and when she couldn’t delete it from the “recently deleted” folder without Allen’s passcode, she tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t stir, so she took his phone with her and left, crying, shaking and in a panic, the lawsuit said.

“With nowhere to go,” she called her friends from her personal cellphone and sobbed that she wasn’t safe and needed to get away from Allen.

“Her friend Jill Doe called a different hotel, disclosed the assault, and the hotel arranged for a room,” according to the suit. Upon returning home, she took Allen’s phone to her local police department and reported the assault and the surreptitious recording.

The local police department told her they would report the incident to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Allen’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment regarding the lawsuit filed Friday.

Last month, Allen denied any wrongdoing when The Times reached out for comment regarding the lawsuit filed by his former manager.

“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,” Allen told The Times in response to the first suit. “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.”

Allen said that his manager hired a lawyer to reach out for money after things ended between them, which led him to question her motives.

Elizabeth Fegan, the attorney representing Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, said “that is categorically not true” in a statement to The Times.

Fegan also said that a payout was never requested; however, on Friday, she confirmed that both Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 are seeking unspecified monetary damages in the lawsuits, which will be decided by the court.

Since the first case was filed last month, Fegan’s law firm has heard from others who share similar experiences with Allen, she said.

“Jane Doe 2’s filing demonstrates to me that there is a vivid, distinct pattern of behavior. We intend to show it’s a pattern of deceit, manipulation, and ultimately of force,” Fegan said Friday in an email. “The law is clear — anyone who has given consent in sexual activity has the right and the ability to revoke consent at any time. Just as no means no, stop means stop. If one participant doesn’t stop, it is sexual assault.”

Allen, who auditioned for the 10th season of “American Idol” in 2011 but was cut before the live rounds, has been slowly climbing the country music ladder over the last decade. In 2021, he won the CMA Award for new artist of the year, becoming the second Black artist ever to land the honor.

In April, Allen and wife, Alexis Gale, announced via social media that they were calling it quits after three years of marriage, but they also revealed that Gale was pregnant with their third child. A week after the first lawsuit was filed, Allen released a statement on social media addressing what he called an “affair” and seemingly blaming the music industry for his behavior.

“I want to publicly apologize to my wife Alexis for humiliating her with my affair. I’m embarrassed that my choices have brought shame on her. That’s something that she did not deserve at all,” he said, adding that he wanted to apologize for being a poor example of a man to his children.

“The business takes so much from you. It’s full of temptations that can cripple you and ruin everything you’ve built. I’m ashamed that I wasn’t strong enough to withstand them. I will no longer be a victim of my weaknesses.”

Fallout came swiftly for the Grammy-nominated country musician. Aside from being dropped by his record label, he was terminated by his publicist, United Talent Agency severed ties with him, he was removed from Sunday’s CMA Fest lineup in Nashville and he was dropped as the commencement speaker at Delaware State University’s graduation ceremony.

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