Jay-Z is suing Tony Buzbee, the lawyer of his accuser who alleges he sexually assaulted her when she was 13-years old, for defamation.
On December 9, it was reported that Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – was named in a lawsuit which alleges the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 2000 by the rapper and Diddy, real name Sean Combs.
In a statement issued via Roc Nation, Carter called the allegations “heinous in nature” and dismissed them as a “blackmail attempt”. He implored lawyer Tony Buzbee to file the lawsuit as a “criminal complaint, not a civil one”.
The rapper then filed a court letter seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit and the identity reveal of the accuser, while maintaining his innocence.
Now, Carter’s legal team has turned their attention to Buzbee, a national trial attorney who claims to represent more than 120 alleged victims. Buzbee has also said he will go after other “high-profile” celebrities who he says are involved or complicit in the alleged abuse.
Carter is claiming that Buzbee’s demand letter only gave a two-week window to commit to a “confidential mediation” regarding an alleged male and female victim. Both have claimed they were drugged and raped when they were minors.
Buzbee’s letter to Carter allegedly reads: “It has been my experience that when someone does this to a victim once, the likelihood is that they have done the same or similar things to others.”
Lawyers for the rapper alleged that Buzbee’s clients were seeking “‘something of substance’ by way of a settlement”, and that if Carter couldn’t reach an agreement, Buzbee would “take a different course.”
Jay-Z at the 2024 Grammys. Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
“In short, Defendants placed a gun to Mr. Carter’s head,” the lawsuit claims. “They were demanding that Mr. Carter either: (a) pay ‘something of substance’ to stop Defendants from making public the wildly false allegations of sexual assault that would subject Mr. Carter to opprobrium and irreparably harm his reputation, family, career and livelihood, or (2) endure that financial and personal ruin. Defendants’ statements and correspondence made clear the immediate and extensive threat of exposure if Mr. Carter failed to pay.”
The rapper’s lawyers claim that Buzbee began defaming Carter in October, where they accuse him of a “media crusade to threaten and intimidate anyone who may have ever come into contact with Combs.” The lawsuit includes screenshots of Buzbee’s social media activity, which claims to show him liking a post that speculated Carter was involved in Combs’ alleged sexual assaults.
Carter’s attorneys also reference a TMZ article from December 10 where Buzbee allegedly indicated that his client might file a criminal complaint against Carter in New York. “These were no idle comments,” the lawsuit alleges. “Buzbee’s words were carefully calculated to leave the public with one unavoidable conclusion: that Mr. Carter was facing imminent criminal prosecution for rape. This is defamation per se because he directly and falsely accused Mr. Carter of committing the horrendous criminal act of rape.”
Buzbee has called the claim “patently frivolous” and added that it “will be dismissed,” per Rolling Stone. “I’ve never said a word about him. This is just another attempt to bully and intimidate me. It just won’t work.”
The new defamation claim from Carter follows Buzbee filing a lawsuit against Roc Nation earlier this week, where he accused the company and its lawyers of using “shadowy operatives” and promising to pay Buzbee’s former clients to illegally entice them into filing “frivolous” claims against him.
Jay-Z attends the Shawn Carter Foundation 20th Anniversary Black Tie Gala at Pier 60 on July 14, 2023 in New York City. Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
Roc Nation has denied that accusation, saying the lawsuit is “baloney” and a “pathetic attempt to distract and deflect attention” from the case. “Mr. Carter is not someone who can be intimidated,” Carter’s lawyers said on Friday (December 20), adding: “He filed this lawsuit to pre-emptively call out Buzbee for the miscreant that he is.”
Earlier this month, the unnamed accuser, known in court documents as Jane Doe, admitted to making “some mistakes” in her recollection of that night.
In a video interview with NBC News, the woman, now 35, recalled the alleged events of the night from her memory as outlined in the lawsuit.
“We will continue to vet her claims and collect corroborating data to the extent it exists. Because we have interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to submit to a polygraph. I’ve never had a client suggest that before.”
He added that “we always do out best to vet each claim made, just as we did in this case,” while claiming that the whole ordeal has been “extremely distressing” for the woman, who has allegedly “experienced seizures” and has sought “medical treatment due to the stress.”
In a statement, Carter told NBC News that the “incident didn’t happen” but Buzbee “filed it in court and doubled down in the press.”
“True Justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory,” the rapper continued. “This was over before it began. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t realize it yet, but, soon.”
The accuser is seeking unspecified damages, with the lawsuit filed under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act.
Earlier this month, the NFL commented on the state of its relationship with Jay-Z and Roc Nation amid the allegations, stating that their “relationship’s not changing” with Roc Nation.
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
The post Jay-Z is suing his accuser’s lawyer for defamation appeared first on NME.
