A little over a year ago, I took some heat from when I stood up for INTEGRIS Health during their much publicized legal battle with Garth Brooks.
If you remember correctly, Garth Brooks donated $500,000 to a hospital in Yukon thinking they would name a hospital wing after his mother. INTEGRIS claimed naming rights weren't part of the deal, and then Brooks asked for his donation back. INTEGRIS refused, Brooks took them to court, and a Claremore jury of country music fans, hillbillies and Garth Brooks autograph seekers (pictured above) ruled in his favor.
Here's what I wrote at the time:
When did Garth Brooks become the mean banker from the Dirt Bike Kid? The guy’s worth $325-million and he’s suing a hospital for $500,000 because they didn’t name a hospital wing after his mom. That would be like me driving back to Taco Bell and asking for a refund because they didn’t leave the red sauce off my bean burrito.
Seriously, what a tool. I hope the thunder rolls and the lightning strikes him right on the head. Maybe INTEGRIS did lie and maybe they are a “not for profit” system that generates billions of dollars in revenue, but who cares. Live with it and move on! This is a hospital. You don’t donate something to them and then ask for it back. That’s such an Indi…uh…uhh…uhhh…taker backer (!!!) thing to do. Thanks Rugrats!..
Anyway, I hope Garth Brooks loses this case. Sure, INTEGRIS is loaded, but the money went to construct a hospital and/or pay ridiculous executive salaries and/or to write off bad debt owed by poor people without insurance. That’s money well spent if you ask me.
Anyway, I bring this up because I'm apparently not the only one who thinks Garth Brooks is a greedy, shady tool. Check out this lawsuit that a former business partner filed against him.
Via TMZ:
Garth Brooks has friends in low places because he's one of the lowest human beings on the planet ... according to a lawsuit filed by his former business partner.
Lisa Sanderson -- who worked with Garth for 20 years -- claims in her uber-colorful lawsuit that -- although Brooks passes himself off as "a humble and highly principled 'everyman'" -- he's actually a "paranoid, angry, deceitful and vindictive man who will turn against those closest to him on a dime."
Sanderson alleges she was a successful TV producer whom Brooks lured to jump start his TV and movie career. But she claims Brooks was his own worst enemy, killing deals with Disney, Fox and others by making ridiculous demands.
Sanderson says Brooks torpedoed a bunch of great opportunities because of his unbridled megalomania. For example, she says Brooks was offered an acting gig to appear as a sniper in "Saving Private Ryan," but he refused because "he wanted to be the star and was unwilling to share the limelight with ... Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Edward Burns."
And then there was the movie "Twister." Sanderson says Brooks nixed a chance to play a bad guy because he didn't want to play second fiddle to a tornado.
As for Sanderson, she says Brooks screwed her in the salary, bonus and profits department, allegedly lying to her about the pot of gold she'd get if she stuck around
In the lawsuit, filed by Marty Singer and Allison Hart, Sanderson wants $425,000 in unpaid bonus and salary, as well as punitive damages.
Oh yeah ... she also says Garth is a tax fraud.
Wait a second, this woman is claiming that a man who sued a hospital, created this and didn't perform at the Oklahoma Centennial Celebration because he had to share the stage with other performers is "a paranoid, angry, deceitful and vindictive man who will turn against those closest to him on a dime?" Makes sense to me!
Anyway, thank goodness Garth Brooks is such a prick. He would have ruined Saving Private Ryan. Can you imagine how terrible the movie would have been with Garth as a primary character? I could live with him being the German who like Mickey Mouse, but that's it.
Also, I stand by my original thoughts regarding Brooks and INTEGRIS. It was incredibly tasteless that he turned into Scrooge McDuck and tried to get his donation back from a hospital. He should have chalked it up as a loss and moved on, or better yet, donated $10-million to Deaconess in exchange for them renaming a strip of Portaland Ave. to INTEGRIS Sucks Boulevard. That would have been passive aggressive and generous. That's a rare feat to pull off.
