Country star and American Idol and Dancing with the Stars alum Jimmie Allen recently split up with his pregnant wife, and the story behind the couple’s demise may be more horrible than imagined.
In a new piece from Variety, the outlet reports that a Jane Doe, who worked as the singer’s day to day manager, filed a lawsuit on Thursday (May 11) in Tennessee federal court. She alleges that “while she was employed by the singer’s management company as Allen’s day-to-day manager, Allen raped her and repeatedly subjected her to sexual abuse and harassment over a period of 18 months.”
UPDATE: Jimmie Allen’s record label BBR Music severed ties with him after the news broke. Additionally, he will no longer be performing at the CMA Music Festival in June
A spokesperson for BBR Music Group released a statement: “In light of today’s allegations against Jimmie Allen, BBR Music Group has decided to suspend all activity with him, effective immediately.”
The lawsuit recounts two specific incidents, which happened at the Ellen Degeneres Show in May 2021, and around the time the singer appeared on American Idol as a guest.
Manipulated and groomed
In the 24 hours leading up to his “Ellen” appearance, Allen allegedly assaulted this woman as they traveled together, groping her breasts on the plane, pushing his erect p—- against her body in public and ma—–ing in front of her at the hotel where they were both staying, the woman told Variety. Once they left the taping and got into the car, she says he forced his fingers into her v—– while she tried to yank his hand away.
Two months before his Ellen appearance, he allegedly raped Jane Doe during a trip to Los Angeles in 2021 to appear on American Idol.
She claims that following a business dinner after the “Idol” taping, she woke up naked in her hotel room in severe pain and bleeding va——-, having remembered nothing of what happened the night before. She says Allen was laying next to her in bed, and insisted she take a Plan B pill. She realized she had lost her virginity through no choice of her own and felt she had betrayed her faith.
“I was disconnected from my body, feeling a sense of panic,” she tells Variety. Disoriented and confused, she says she remembers Allen saying, “‘I’ve been thinking about this for so long.’” She adds: “He held me in place. At that point, any physical will was just out the door. I was pretty much paralyzed.”
The woman claims she was manipulated and groomed by Allen into a sexually abusive relationship that lasted for over a year and a half.
Incident backstage at the Carrie Underwood show
When Allen toured with Carrie Underwood, featured as a special guest on her 43-arena nationwide “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour,” there was an incident where he allegedly groped Jane Doe in the greenroom at rehearsals. Jane Doe’s friend tells Variety she recalls hearing about this incident.
“I was like, ‘What if Carrie walks in?’ He was like, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He kept trying to pin me down. I was like, ‘I’m scared,’ and he said, ‘I know, it’s such a turn on,’” she recalls.
A “consensual” relationship
In a statement to Variety, Allen claims that he had a consensual sexual relationship with Jane Doe.
“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 says. “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.”
Notably, the incidents she described happened while he was married. In fact, during the Ellen appearance, he was gushing about his recent wedding and new baby and stating how he wanted to be an example of how to do the right thing. At the time, he was promoting a new children’s book.
“At no time did our client make a monetary demand”
Jane Doe’s attorney claims his client never asked for money. “The only ask we made of Allen and his legal counsel was to meet to discuss Allen’s behavior and resolution of our client’s claims. At no time did our client make a monetary demand. The response was a hard no, and colored with threats that his team would take steps to publicly tarnish my client. My client had no choice but to be proactive in protecting herself by filing the complaint.”
Jane Doe is also suing her former employer, Wide Open Music and its founder Ash Bowers, who discovered Allen in 2016. He is also credited as a producer and songwriter on all of his albums. Shesays she reported some of Allen’s verbal harassment to her boss on several occasions. When she told Bowers about allegedly being raped and sexually abused, Wide Open Music dropped Allen as a client but also, according to her lawsuit, they fired her.
Suing former employer
Bowers tells Variety that he did not fire Jane Doe for retaliation. “[Jane Doe] was the day-to-day manager for Mr. Allen,” Bowers says. “Once Wide Open Music no longer managed Mr. Allen, that role was gone and, furthermore, [the company] has transitioned out of artist management completely.”
Additionally, in reporting the story, Variety spoke with a friend and Jane Doe’s mother who recounted her telling them about the alleged abuse. Variety viewed Jane Doe’s text messages with Allen, her friend and family members that corroborate parts of her story.
Jane Doe alleges that Allen raped her while choking her, sexually abused her at red lights when she drove him to and from business events and looked at p— on her work computer. Jane Doe tells Variety that she said “no” and tried to push Allen away during many sexual interactions, and after she had been allegedly coerced and forced to have sexual intercourse with Allen, she would regularly bleed, cry uncontrollably and run to the bathroom to vomit. Despite these signs, she says Allen failed to acknowledge her physical and emotional pain.
Allen videotaped multiple sexual encounters “to blackmail her to stay silent,” according to the suit, while she says he insisted Jane Doe surrender her own phone and other electronics when they were together.
Allen is being sued for sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, sex trafficking and emotional distress; Bowers and Wide Open Music are being sued for gross negligence and participating in a venture engaged in sex trafficking, among other counts.
