Jimmie Allen.Photo:Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty
Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty
Jimmie Allen, who is embroiled in two lawsuits involving sexual assault and abuse, has planned a comedy tour for this fall.
The 38-year-old country singerannounced the tour Thursday on social media. No official dates or venues have been announced.
“‘I Said What I Said,’ and I’m gonna say it again during my 3-night comedy tour coming this October,” he wrote onInstagram, alongside what appears to be his tour poster. “ALL shows are invite only, so be sure signup with your e-mail via link in bio to receive the latest news & how to win tix🎤”
The comedy tour announcement comes after Allenfiled two counterclaimsagainst women accusing him ofsexual assault and abuseearlier this month.
Allen said in a statement that his goal in responding to the women in court is to “protect my reputation and refute these claims that have caused severe damage to my family, mental health and business.”
The Grammy-nominated musician said in his statement that he’d taken his time responding to the lawsuits, as he “wanted to fix my family first” (Allen and hispregnant wife Alexisbothfiled for divorce in Aprilafter three years of marriage).
“I’ve taken a couple months before publicly responding to these claims, because I wanted to fix my family first. This situation has caused me great humiliation, and I felt it was necessary to seek professional help,” he wrote. “For years, I have dealt with racism and harmful threats solely because I am a Black man in the country music industry, and this situation has only amplified that.”
He claimed: “These false allegations have caused me to lose a vast number of business and endorsement opportunities that I worked extremely hard for. These false allegations have also not only harmed me, but have caused severe financial damage to my band, my team and their families.”
Beth Fegan, an attorney representing both accusers, told PEOPLE in a statement that Allen’s filings are “what we’d expect — claims that all his encounters with Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 were consensual.”
That same day, the “Make Me Want to” singer told PEOPLE that he and Alexis are working on their future as a team.
“Thedivorce caseis still pending, as my wife and I are working to resolve things together as a family,” he said.
Allen also clarified a statement he made earlier that day in which he said that he had waited several months before publicly responding to the pair of lawsuits against him because he “wanted to fix my family first.”
Allenissued Alexis a public apologyin May, writing on social media that he was sorry “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.”
source: people.com
