Country singer Jimmie Allen gave his first public interview in a year to Kathie Lee Gifford, former host of NBC's The Today Show on Tuesday, and opened up about a very dark period in his life.
Allen's sharp disappearance from the public eye followed two sexual assault lawsuits, one from a former manager and another from an unnamed Jane Doe. He told Gifford how his "whole world had just collapsed" after his former manager, who remained unnamed fearing retaliation, filed a lawsuit against him in May 2023.
The former manager alleged that he "raped her and repeatedly subjected her to sexual abuse and harassment over a period of 18 months," per Variety. Allen was later suspended then dropped by his label, BBR Music Group, his booking agency, management and PR firm. He was also removed from multiple music festival line-ups, speaking engagements and a slotted performance on the CMAs.
After his career fell to pieces, Allen questioned how he would keep his family afloat. He turned to a drastic idea.
"I'm thinking to myself, how am I going to provide for my family? And then it hit me. My life insurance covered suicide," said Allen. He detailed that every single day he battled thoughts like, "Do I want to live? Do I not want to live?"
On May 11, the singer loaded "the final bullet into his gun," but received a text saying, "Ending it isn't the answer." He then had a friend take away his gun.
Allen said that he doesn't "feel that way now, but in that moment, when you feel like you have nothing."
After a stint with drugs like Percocet and sleeping pills, he is reportedly eight months sober.
"I am healing and growing for me and my children," said Allen.
Outside of his lawsuit, Allen's marriage fell to pieces after he admitted to infidelity. He confessed to Gifford that he was not in a place for marriage nor fidelity when he married his estranged wife, Alexis Gale. The two filed for divorce in April 2023, with Allen fathering two children with an unnamed woman during the process.
Allegations against Allen first arrived less than a month after his and Gale's divorce proceedings began.
In May 2023, Allen's former manager claimed that he raped her in May 2021 and March 2021, both while on work trips.
"He held me in place. At that point, any physical will was just out the door. I was pretty much paralyzed," she said of the second assault. She detailed that she awoke with Allen in her bed, giving her a Plan B. She remembered none of the events of the night before, and reportedly woke up "in severe pain and bleeding vaginally."
Allen provided a statement of his own, in which he said, "I acknowledge that [the former manager and he] 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."
He stated that the accusations and lawsuit came about "Only after things ended between us." She also filed a suit against her former employer, Wide Open Music and its founder, Ash Bowers.
After the manager told Bowers of her being sexually assaulted and raped, Wide Open Music dropped Allen from the label. However, the company also fired the former manager, claiming that her role was no longer necessary as it was directly tied to Allen.
Another Jane Doe came forward against Allen in June 2023. The woman alleged that she "willingly joined" Allen in a Las Vegas hotel room, but that he ejaculated in her without her consent, reportedly telling her that he wanted to "get her pregnant" despite her saying "no" multiple times. Nonconsensual insemination is a form of battery. Jane Doe 2 also alleged that Allen filmed the encounter without her consent, which is a federal crime.
Allen counter sued both women for defamation, but dropped his case after the former manager dismissed her own in March 2024. His former manager is still suing her Wide Open Music and Bowers. Jane Doe 2's suit is set to go to trial in March 2025.
