Jimmie Allen Pays Financial Settlement To Former Manager Who Filed A Sexual Assualt Lawsuit Against Him
After a months-long legal battle, Jimmie Allen’s former manager dropped the sexual assault lawsuit she filed against him last year (2023). PEOPLE reports that the manager, referred to as Jane Doe in legal paperwork, “agreed to move past litigation” against Allen on Thursday (March 14).
Jane Doe’s attorney, Elizabeth Fegan, explained how Allen offered to pay Jane Doe a financial settlement in exchange for her not taking the case to court. Jane Doe accepted this offer to save herself “from the emotional trauma of reliving her experience.”
Jimmie Allen’s Former Manager Speaks Out After Dropping Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Singer https://t.co/xo0kZfgFpO
— People (@people) March 18, 2024
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“While Allen and my client reached an agreement prior to trial, the motivations remained true — to hold Allen accountable, which we succeeded in doing,” Fegan added.
Some Background Behind The Lawsuit Against Jimmie Allen
Jane Doe’s lawsuit was filed in May 2023. According to PEOPLE, who obtained the legal documents, “the former manager listed several instances where the country star allegedly forced himself onto her and abused her.”
She accused Allen of raping her during a work trip to film for American Idol in 2021. She also accused him of assaulting her another time when they traveled together for him to film an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Jane Doe claimed that Allen’s management team was aware of his behavior, but continued to put them together for work.
Allen has repeatedly denied the accusations and claimed their relationship was consensual.
An additional lawsuit was filed against Allen in June 2023. The second Jane Doe alleged Allen filmed a sexual encounter between them without her consent.
Manager’s Attorney Releases Statement On Her Behalf, Explains Why She Dropped The Lawsuit
The first Jane Doe’s lawyers at FeganScott confirmed with PEOPLE that she filed a revised stipulation agreement on Monday (March 18) to finalize her decision to drop her lawsuit against Allen.
Fegan provided a statement on her client’s behalf. She said:
“Jane Doe entered into a settlement agreement with Jimmie Allen to avoid the trauma of reliving her abuse over the course of a painful trial.“
Fegan added:
“The lawsuit against Allen was never about financial gain for my client, but instead holding Allen accountable. Unfortunately, civil litigation has few ways to punish wrongdoers; we could not ask the court to jail him, for example, or force him to change his behavior. One of the few remedies we do have in civil litigation is to ask the court to punish through monetary damages, which we did.”
Fegan denied claims that Jane Doe “recanted her allegations and walked away from the litigation.” She says Jane Doe still “stands by her statements in the complaint” even though she accepted the settlement.
FeganScott also noted that they are still bringing the second lawsuit against Allen to trial.
Jimmie Allen Releases Statement After Jane Doe Drops Lawsuit
Allen also provided his own statement to PEOPLE after Jane Doe dropped her lawsuit. The singer and former Dancing with the Stars competitor said:
“Because of these false allegations, the past eight months have been the hardest of my life, but it has shown me how much love I have from my friends and family. [Jane Doe’s] non-[factual] story has story has affected the lives of my children and I’m not down with that. I can take all the jabs, but when they start affecting my children we have serious issues.”
Allen said he plans to address the lawsuit’s allegations “within the next week.” He ended his statement by saying, “Be blessed.”
Stay tuned for any future updates on this story.
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, please visit rainn.org or call the National Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-800-656-4673.