Los Angeles, California – Hip-hop mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has filed a lawsuit against the attorneys and an unnamed woman who accused him and Sean “Diddy” Combs of rape last year but later dropped the lawsuit in February, according to court documents. Jay-Z alleges that the lawyers and their Jane Doe client conspired to make false and malicious allegations of drugging and raping the woman when she was 13 years old in 2000, with the intention of extorting him.
The initial sexual assault complaint was filed against Diddy last October, with Jane Doe mentioning another “male celebrity” who she claimed had also assaulted her at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty. She later refiled the case, this time naming Jay-Z as the alleged co-assailant. In response, Jay-Z’s lawsuit asserts that the accusations were part of a malicious attempt by the legal team to bring the story to light in court and on global television.
The lawsuit further claims that Jay-Z is seeking to hold Jane Doe accountable for her defamatory statements and asserts that the lawyers involved did not adequately investigate her claims, which allegedly cast doubt on her credibility. In a statement, attorney Tony Buzbee defended his client, stating that the lawsuit has no legal merit and accusing Jay-Z’s investigators of harassing and threatening the woman in an attempt to make her recant her story.
Buzbee claimed that Jane Doe stands by her allegations and refutes the quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit. He also alleged that Jay-Z’s investigators had been caught on tape offering to pay people to sue Buzbee and his firm. Despite the legal back-and-forth, both parties seem determined to stand their ground in what has become a contentious legal battle.