Country music superstar Garth Brooks is in a legal battle with a hospital over a large donation he says he made to honor his mother. INSIDE EDITION has the scoop.
Country music legend Garth Brooks is mad as hell and wants his money back.
Brooks told reporters, "I've been taking this crap from them and now for the next four days, I get to, for the first time ever, I get to show that there's going to be a lot of character exposed here."
Dressed in jeans and his trademark black cowboy hat, Brooks and his wife, country star Trisha Yearwood, walked into court for the first day of a jury trial that's become very personal.
Brooks is suing Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in his hometown of Yukon, Oklahoma, to get back a $500,000 donation.
He says the hospital broke its promise to name a building after his beloved mom Colleen, who died of cancer in 1999. His anger bubbled over outside court.
"I'm embarrassed that I'm standing here today and I cannont believe that these guys have taken it this far," said Brooks.
Brooks is the third top-selling artist of all time behind the Beatles and Elvis.
He says hospital officials courted him for two years to make the $500,000 donation to honor his mom. Hospital officials say the money was an unconditional gift and they've done nothing wrong.
Hospital spokesman Hardy Watkins said, "The money has not been spent. It's sitting in that foundation account and I think that we've certainly hoped along the way that we would have been able to come to some sort of agreement."
But a peaceful agreement doesn't sound like it's in the cards for Brooks.
"It's about my mom. It's about her honor," said Brooks.
