Jay-Z has asked for the identity of a woman who has accused him of raping her when she was 13 to be revealed, or for the case to be dismissed.
The accuser, who is identified only as “Jane Doe” (a US legal terms to say that she is anonymous), says the assault happened after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, allegedly alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter – and Combs both deny the allegations.
In a court filing, seen by Sky’s US news partner NBC News, Jay-Z’s lawyer Alex Spiro argued the accuser’s decision to file a lawsuit under the name “Jane Doe” was “inconsistent with a genuine effort to determine the truth or falsity of these allegations as opposed to an effort to procure a quick, extortionate settlement”.
Mr Spiro said Jay-Z was “respectfully seeking either dismissal of the allegations or disclosure of the plaintiff’s identity”.
He went on: “It is not consistent with justice, fairness or the rules governing federal proceedings for the plaintiff and her counsel to smear [the] defendant’s good name in ways that are calculated to feed media coverage and thus inflict maximum public relations damage while the core fact of [the] plaintiff’s identity… remains wholly hidden from view.”
Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee, who says he is representing 120 accusers in cases against Combs, responded to Mr Spiro’s motion in an interview on Monday with NBC News.
Mr Buzbee said: “Anyone that suggests that a demand letter, especially the one that I sent, is extortion or blackmail, is foolish.
“These kinds of demand letters are sent on a daily basis across the United States, and attempting to attack me to take the focus off of the alleged perpetrator won’t work and it won’t intimidate us.”
The federal lawsuit against Jay-Z and Combs was re-filed in the Southern District of New York on Sunday. It had originally only named Combs.
According to NBC News, the lawsuit claims the girl was dropped off at the VMAs at Radio City Music Hall by a friend – she did not have a ticket and approached various limousine drivers to try to gain access to the show or after party.
One driver allegedly told Doe he worked for Combs and she “fit what Diddy was looking for”. The driver later picked her up, the lawsuit says, and after 20 minutes she was dropped off at a white house. The girl was then made to sign a document she believed to be a non-disclosure agreement.
She was allegedly offered a drink that made her feel “woozy, lightheaded and felt [like] she needed to lie down”.
Shortly afterwards, the suit says, both Combs and Jay-Z entered the room, with Combs telling her: “You are ready to party!”
That’s when, she alleges, Jay-Z removed her clothes, held her down and raped her while Combs and an unnamed female celebrity watched. She says Combs also raped her as Jay-Z and the woman looked on.
After the alleged assault, she “grabbed her clothes” and ran to the nearest petrol station where she called her father.
She is seeking unspecified damages.
Jay-Z responded to the allegations in a lengthy statement sent to NBC News.
He wrote: “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?
“These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
He went on: “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people. I mourn yet another loss of innocence.
“Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable,” he added.
Jay-Z has been married to Beyonce since 2008 after the couple met around 2000. They have three children together.
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Meanwhile, Combs has been charged by federal prosecutors in New York with racketeering, sex trafficking and other offences. He is in custody in Brooklyn and scheduled to go on trial on 5 May.
Lawyers for Combs have denied allegations of rape, sexual assault and misconduct, saying in a previous statement: “Mr Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defences, and the integrity of the judicial process.
“In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone – adult or minor, man or woman.”
