(CN) - Garth Brooks is a "paranoid, angry, deceitful and vindictive man" who sabotaged TV and film deals his business partner set up and owes her hundreds of thousands of dollars, the former partner claims in court.
Lisa Sanderson sued Brooks and his production company Red Strokes Entertainment, in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Sanderson claims Brooks "is willing to lie to avoid paying his debts, and he revels in using his vast wealth and influence to crush anyone who Brooks believes is standing in the way of him getting what he wants."
After becoming a country music star, Brooks wanted to move into film and TV, "where he believed he would be an even bigger star," Sanderson says in the complaint.
She claims Brooks induced her to abandon her successful career in television to become his producing partner at Red Strokes. Brooks, she claims, used his "infectious charisma" and promised her they would "'make millions' together."
Sanderson claims Brooks promised her 50 percent of producer fees for projects they developed or produced, in addition to her "relatively small salary."
"Brooks further represented on numerous occasions that in the vent they did not make millions of dollars developing and producing film and television projects, and/or if Red Strokes ceased doing business for any reason while Sanderson was still employed there, Sanderson would be paid a bonus of $250,000 to compensate her for her loyalty and years of service to Brooks and Red Strokes," the complaint states. "Those statements were lies."
The complaint continues: "Brooks refused to split the producer fees paid to Red Strokes in connection with a television movie produced by Sanderson, and instead instructed the studio to stop payment on a check it had issued directly to Sanderson and issue a new check for the entire producer fee payable only to Red Strokes. Brooks told the studio that he 'would take care of' Sanderson, however, she never received a dime of her fifty percent (50%) of the producer fee."
Sanderson adds: "For nearly twenty (20) years, Sanderson worked tirelessly to make Brooks' dream a reality. However, Brooks' unreasonable demands torpedoed nearly all of the potential deals that came their way. ...
"By way of example, Sanderson introduced Brooks to Frank Darabont and arranged for him to write a role for Brooks as a sniper in the motion picture 'Saving Private Ryan,' which was directed by Steven Spielberg ('Spielberg'). Brooks refused to accept the role, indicating that he wanted to be the star and was unwilling to share the limelight with the rest of the ensemble cast, which included award-winning actors Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Edward Burns, among numerous other well known and critically acclaimed actors. Brooks further stated that although he idolized Tom Hanks, he did not believe anyone would ever want to see that movie. When Brooks rejected the role in 'Saving Private Ryan,' Spielberg asked Brooks what role did he want to play and Brooks replied, 'a bad guy.' Spielberg then sent Brooks the script for the film 'Twister.' Brooks also passed on that film, saying the star of the film was the tornado and Brooks wanted to be the star."
Sanderson claims that Red Strokes had a development deal with Disney, but "Brooks' arrogance and inability to collaborate with others cost Red Strokes multiple potentially lucrative Disney animated films."