Jimmie Allen says sex assault claims nearly ended him: 'My life insurance covers suicide'

Milton country star Jimmie Allen has chosen his friend Kathie Lee Gifford to tell his side of the story after a year fighting two sexual assault allegations and watching his music career stall out. In the new, hourlong video interview posted to Allen's YouTube channel, the singer says he considered taking his own life.

Allen's ex-manager, identified in filings under the alias "Jane Doe," sued him in May 2023, alleging the singer regularly sexually abused and harassed her while she was his day-to-day manager from 2020 to 2022. The singer then countersued.

Less than a month after the first lawsuit was filed, a second woman sued Allen and accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Las Vegas hotel room and recording the encounter without her knowledge in July 2022. 

In March, Allen and his former manager agreed to drop their lawsuits against each other, The Tennessean reported. The news outlet initially said the proposed order wouldn't be finalized until U.S. District Judge William Campbell enters an order of dismissal, which typically happens soon after both sides agree to drop a lawsuit.

The trial for his second accuser is scheduled for March 2025, The Tennessean reported. 

No criminal charges have been filed against Allen in either case.

The sit-down interview, which features Allen wearing a DEL Made hat, was conducted at Gifford's bar in Tennessee and uploaded to Allen's YouTube channel on Wednesday, April 23. In the video, Gifford says Allen is her friend and that she wants the world to embrace him again. 

"I want people to love you again, the way I've always loved you," said Gifford, who attended Allen's wedding in 2021. "My purpose here today is for them to fall in love with you again." 

Jimmie Allen: 'My life insurance covers suicide'

Allen said his ex-manager's lawsuit resulted in him losing concerts, TV shows, a movie, a book deal, a new shoe he was designing, and an ice cream deal.

But saving his career wasn't his first priority when the news broke, he tells Gifford.

"I'm thinking to myself, how am I going to provide for my family? And then it hit me, my life insurance covers suicide," Allen recounts, while crying.

"I don't feel that way now. But in that moment, when you feel like you have nothing," the singer explains, before Gifford interrupts and adds, "You're worth more dead than alive."

In the video, the "Down Home" singer claims he's the victim of cancel culture and "it's no longer innocent 'till proven guilty."

After learning about the lawsuit, the singer told Gifford, he began "putting bullets in my gun clip."

In that moment of despair, Allen says he received a text message notification that flashed across the top of his phone. That's unusual because he normally has to open his inbox to see his messages. 

That surprise message came from his friend Chuck Adams and read: "Ending it isn't the answer."

Jimmie Allen opens up about cheating on his wife

When Gifford asks the singer what caused his career to unravel, his answer: "Definitely women. ... It was searching for instant gratification from women that offered it."

Allen said he had people telling him he should get married. But he wasn't ready for a commitment, he explained.

The singer continues to maintain that he and his ex-manager, whom Gifford says she knows, engaged in a consensual physical relationship from roughly 2021 to August or September 2022.

When Gifford asks why the ex-manager would file the lawsuit, Allen responds, "Honestly don't know."

Former manager agrees to drop sexual assault lawsuit against Allen

The former manager also sued the artist management company that hired her, Wide Open Music, and its founder, Ash Bowers, accusing him of knowingly failing to protect her after learning about the alleged abuse. Those suits are still active.

Bowers told The Tennessean in an email at the time that the lawsuit was the first he heard about Allen's alleged abuse and that Wide Open Music immediately terminated its relationship with Allen after the former manager made the allegations.

Elizabeth Fegan, the attorney for the first plaintiff (named Jane Doe) told People, "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," the outlet reported in March.

According to People, the attorney explained that Allen offered to pay a financial settlement in exchange for not bringing the case to trial, which her law firm "agreed to in order to save my client from the emotional trauma of reliving her experience."

Jimmie Allen fathered twins with another woman

The "Best Shot" singer announced to his fans on Instagram in March that he welcomed two children outside of his marriage last year, making him a father of six. Allen has said the mother of his twins, Aria and Amari, is a friend and that the pregnancy happened while he and his wife, Alexis Allen, were separated.

Jimmie Allen timeline of legal drama: Sexual assault lawsuits filed against him

Jimmie Allen says he has more kids: Welcomed new babies outside of his marriage last year

Allen teases new music

During his new video interview with Gifford, Allen says he's been working on new music in Milton and teases his upcoming song "Grits," which he recorded locally. "I'm writing some of the best music I've ever written."

The Tennessean reporter Evan Mealins contributed to this report.

News Journal reporter Xerxes Wilson contributed to this report.

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters. 

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Jimmie Allen talks sexual assault lawsuits, cheating on wife