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The lawsuit alleges that Jay-Z and fellow rap mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs raped a 13-year-old girl at a party in 2000
Published : 10 Dec 2024, 04:47 PM
A lawyer for Shawn Carter, the hip-hop mogul known as Jay-Z, has called for the woman who has accused the rapper of raping her when she was 13 to disclose her identity or have the lawsuit dismissed.
The lawsuit, initially filed in October, involved a woman identified only as "Jane Doe", who accused rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs of raping her at a party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. The complaint was amended on Dec 8 to allege that Jay-Z was also present and participated in the assault.
In a court filing on Monday, Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro argued that the accuser failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify her anonymity, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Mr Carter deserves to know the identity of the person who is effectively accusing him — in sensationalised, publicity-hunting fashion — of criminal conduct, demanding massive financial compensation and tarnishing a reputation earned over decades,” Spiro wrote. “He has never been accused of, let alone engaged in, any sexual misconduct.”
Spiro also highlighted other sexual misconduct cases filed against Combs by the plaintiff’s attorney, Tony Buzbee. According to Spiro, these cases similarly lack grounds for proceeding under anonymity.
Jay-Z denied the allegations on social media and blasted the lawsuit, calling it part of a "blackmail attempt" by the plaintiff's lawyer, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit was originally filed in the Southern District of New York and at that time did not name Jay-Z as a defendant, though the amended lawsuit says that Jay-Z was identified as "Celebrity A" on the original complaint, according to Reuters.
Combs has denied all allegations against him, including this one, in October. He is currently in jail on federal sex trafficking charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The lawsuit alleges that the unnamed girl was drugged and raped by both Jay-Z and Combs at a party hosted by Combs following the MTV Music Awards in 2000, which was held in New York.
Buzbee, the Texas lawyer representing the girl who filed the lawsuit, has filed at least 20 civil lawsuits against Combs accusing him of sexual misconduct.
In an email to Reuters, Buzbee said the Jay-Z lawsuit "speaks for itself".
"This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court," Buzbee wrote.
Buzbee, in his amended lawsuit, says his legal firm had previously sent Jay-Z a letter seeking to mediate a settlement.
Jay-Z, the lawsuit says, responded to that letter by filing a lawsuit against Buzbee, and by "orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment" against Buzbee and other lawyers in his firm, which the lawyer said was an intimidation tactic meant to silence his client.
In a post on social media, Buzbee said the alleged rape victim he is representing "never demanded a penny" from Jay-Z, writing that "she only sought a confidential mediation."
Buzbee last week filed a lawsuit against law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, whose lawyers represent Combs and Jay-Z, accusing the firm's legal team of harassing his colleagues, his clients and his family.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan did not respond to requests for comment.
