Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter contests accusations that he and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a teen in 2000 counterattacked.
JAY-Z and his legal team, led by attorney Alex Spiro, have accused plaintiff attorney Tony Buzbee of misconduct and filing a baseless lawsuit.
Carter’s team is calling for the case to be dismissed, citing inconsistencies between claims and evidence of Buzby’s unethical behavior.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, alleges that plaintiff Jane Doe was sexually assaulted at an afterparty hosted by Combs after the MTV Video Music Awards.
The amended indictment names JAY-Z as a defendant and identifies him as the second person involved in the alleged attack.
However, JAY-Z’s attorneys disputed those claims, calling them “completely unreliable” and accusing Buzbee of failing to investigate before filing the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff’s unsubstantiated allegations collapse under scrutiny as the evidence — and the lack of it — reveals glaring inconsistencies and outright improbabilities in her story,” JAY-Z’s filing states.
Issues raised included inconsistencies in timing, details of the alleged attack and the location described by the accuser.
The charges revolve around an after-party that was allegedly held at a private residence, which was described as “a large white house with a gated U-shaped driveway.”
However, photos from the night of the alleged incident show JAY-Z at a New York City nightclub called Lotus, which bears no resemblance to the residence described in the complaint.
In addition, photos showing Diddy and Jennifer Lopez attending separate parties at other New York nightclubs that night further contradict the plaintiff’s claims.
Jane Doe’s statement to NBC News also raised questions about her story.
In interviews, Doe admitted to making mistakes in identifying people and events, saying: “Not all faces are that clear.”
She admitted she may have been “guessing” key details, including the time it would take to get to the alleged party.
She claims her father drove five hours from Rochester to pick her up, but he denies it ever happened, telling NBC, “I felt like I would remember that, but I don’t . . . That’s for sure. Will stay in my mind.
The motion also states that Doe’s claims that he spoke to musician Benji Madden at the party are demonstrably false.
Madden was not in New York at the time, but touring the Midwest with his band Good Charlotte. The revelation further undermined her credibility.
Spiro’s filing accuses Buzbee of trying to extort JAY-Z before filing the lawsuit.
According to the motion, Buzbee threatened to publicly accuse JAY-Z of sexually assaulting multiple minors unless JAY-Z agreed to pay a hefty settlement.
When JAY-Z refused, Buzbee amended the indictment to name him as a defendant.
The motion also highlights Buzbee’s troubling history of misconduct in other cases, including allegations of pressuring clients to falsify evidence and unethical fee arrangements.
In one case, a federal court invalidated Buzbee’s orchestrated referral agreement as contrary to public policy.
In another case, Buzbee was reprimanded by a California judge for violating a pretrial ruling and trying to introduce prohibited evidence during the trial.
“Buzbee’s chronic failure to comply in this and other cases creates a substantial risk that he will destroy evidence that undermines the plaintiffs’ case, including evidence of his own misconduct,” the filing states.
JAY-Z’s legal team has requested an immediate preservation order to prevent relevant evidence from being destroyed.
Lawyers for the rap star have filed a motion to dismiss the allegations against him, calling them “shameful” and “frivolous.”
They argued that the claims had no legitimate purpose and were intended only to damage JAY-Z’s reputation and force a settlement.
“The obscenity allegations against Mr. Carter serve no purpose other than to harass him and force him to settle the false accusations,” the motion states.
Spiro said the impact of the accusations is huge. “These allegations have caused immeasurable harm to Mr. Carter, his family, his business, his employees and his legacy,” he said in the filing.
The court will hear arguments on the preservation order and motion to dismiss later this week.
