The Perfect Conspiracy Theory

I didn’t believe it when I first heard the most perfect conspiracy theory. You won’t either. Who would? But once I did hear, I searched, because that is what good researchers do. They look for evidence.

So I went to the Google and asked “Is [famous country music singer] Garth Brooks a serial killer?” This is what it said.

Origin and Spread of the Theory

• Comedian Tom Segura: The theory began in a 2018 podcast episode when Segura commented that Brooks had a “serial killer smile” in a tour announcement video and joked that he looked like someone who had killed people.
• Internet Meme: The joke quickly gained traction online, with social media users running with the idea. Fans of Segura and other internet sleuths began cross-referencing Brooks’ tour dates with missing person reports and unsolved homicides, often in a satirical or “crowdsourced rabbit hole” fashion.
• Brooks’ Response: For a long time, Brooks remained silent on the rumors, which only fueled the speculation among internet users who interpreted his silence as suspicious. He has since blocked Tom Segura on social media, a move which became another talking point for the conspiracy’s followers. 

The best part of that was Brooks’s silence. That proved he was a serial killer. After all, if he was innocent, he would have said something.

But if had denied it, that really would have proved he was a serial killer. Why would he give credence to such silly rumors unless he had a guilty conscience?

That he blocked his accuser, instead of trying to confront him, is also proof that he is a serial killer.

My favorite part of the Google’s response was given last.

Legal and Factual Context

It is important to emphasize that these are allegations and speculation, not proven facts. Garth Brooks has not been charged with, let alone convicted of, any such crimes. 

Now I ask you. Can you think of any two other sentences which would inflame the mind of the conspiracy theorist as much as these? They are like that Colonel (with hair out of regs) in those old movies standing in front of a harmless looking aircraft hanger. “See that hanger behind me,” says the colonel, gesturing to the harmless looking hanger, “There is absolutely nothing unusual in there.”

Which to the audience was all the proof it needed that something unusual was in there, and whatever it was was bad news.

This is brought to our attention because of this emblamatic video, part of a now common trope, in which the host says in his review of a book written by some criminal and his ex-con buddy that “The probability of Garth Brooks being a serial killer being responsible for all of these crimes is extremely high. There are just too many coincidences.”

(Before we come to that, I quote one of the commenters to the video: “Garth has friends in crawl spaces.”)

Now the criminal author knows the whole thing began as a Tom Segura joke. But then the criminal began “looking into it.” Which is our point. Once you begin to let yourself look into a joke, you are lost. Because then you begin to “discover” patterns.

And must discover patterns. It is impossible not to find patterns. There are always patterns. In anything.

The gist is that Garth—who is not helping himself with that spooky Gothic haunted-house name—has had hundreds of tour dates since the 1980s, and that in each of the large cities in which he has appeared over the years, some people are killed or go missing on or around the same dates of his concerts.

“If you wind up all these missing people and unsolved homicides and you had strings wrapped around the pins, you know, like a crazy person, all of them would converge onto Garth Brooks.”

I don’t know how this guy counted, but he came to over 80 unsolved homicides and 120 missing persons that were correlated to Brooks’s concert dates.

I would bet good money that we could compile a similar list for you, dear reader. Yes, you. Give me a list of dates in which you visited large cities and we’ll compile a spreadsheet of unusual and unexplained activity in those cities on the days you visited. After publishing this spreadsheet, you will be visited by Men in Black who will have certain questions for you. See if your denials—try them out now—don’t sound suspicious.

It turns out that the author admits that “there is no rhyme or reason” to the ages and identities of the victims. Old, young, rich, poor, and so on, nothing that would tie them together.

And you know what that means, as asks?

Serial killer. Serial killers are happy just to kill, and their victims have “no rhyme or reason” commonality either.

Why didn’t Garth plan his murders? Why did he wing them right before or after his concerts? Because “serial killers are opportunistic.”

And if all that isn’t enough for you, then here is the final convincer. Some people held up signs at Garth’s concerts saying “Where are the bodies?” And Brooks didn’t respond to them. Evidence of his unforgivable cruelty.

On and on and on they go, weaving themselves a theory so dense it cannot be unraveled. All because of a joke. Always keep this in mind when investigating the inevitable conspiracies you will hear.

This guy, one of the video’s commenters, could have used this advice:

Ok listen. My uncle went missing in August of 1993 in Wenatchee. After watching this my mom goes- I wonder where Garth was then. So I looked it up. He literally was traveling from Tacoma to pullman. With Wenatchee on his route. What the actual fck. He’s still never been found.

But maybe I’m wrong to tease. In case I am, and in case you live in any of these places below where Garth will appear in 2026, here are some good vacation dates for you to be far away:

• June 16, 2026: Milwaukee, WI, American Family Insurance Amphitheater
• June 17, 2026: Milwaukee, WI, American Family Insurance Amphitheater
• June 27, 2026: London, UK, Hyde Park (as part of BST Hyde Park) 

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