A woman accusing Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) of rape in a new civil lawsuit never “demanded a penny” from him, her attorney said.
“Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. He even filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him,” Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee told TMZ in a statement on Sunday, December 8, accusing Jay-Z of being the anonymous male celebrity who filed a lawsuit him last month. (It remains unclear whether Jay-Z is indeed the male celebrity that sued Buzbee and his firm.)
Buzbee continued: “Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”
Per an NBC News report Sunday, Jay-Z and Diddy, both 55, are named as defendants in a civil lawsuit, accusing the rap moguls of sexually assaulting her when she was 13. The woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” claimed the assault took place at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000.
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The suit was first filed in October in the Southern District of New York and originally listed Diddy as the sole defendant. It was refiled on Sunday to include Jay-Z.
The “99 Problems” rapper vehemently denied the claims against him in a statement to Us Weekly on Sunday. He accused Jane Doe’s attorney of blackmailing him to elicit a settlement payment.
“My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a ‘lawyer’ named Tony Buzbee. What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” Jay-Z said. “No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
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“These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?” the statement continued. “These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.” (Jay-Z’s statement was also shared via Roc Nation’s official Instagram account.)
“This amended complaint and the recent extortion lawsuit against Mr. Buzbee exposes his barrage of lawsuits against Mr. Combs for what they are: shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs,” Diddy’s attorneys said in a statement to Us on Sunday. “As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor.”
Buzbee, who is representing several of Diddy’s accusers in various civil cases, was sued last month by an unidentified male celebrity who said the attorney was “shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him or else publicly file wildly false horrific allegations against him.” The celebrity alleged in the filing that Buzbee’s law firm was attempting to capitalize on the “explosive allegations against Sean Combs” by pulling in public figures who have been acquainted with Diddy in the past.
