The refiled civil lawsuit alleges both Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in 2000.
HOUSTON — Shawn Carter, also known as Jay-Z, said Houston Lawyer Tony Buzbee attempted to “blackmail” him to settle a civil lawsuit in which Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl.
CNN reports the lawsuit was originally filed against Combs in October and didn’t have Carter’s name attached, but was refiled Sunday to include him as a defendant.
The victim accusing both Carter and Combs is only listed as “Jane Doe,” according to CNN. The suit says both men assaulted her at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in 2000.
According to CNN, the lawsuit alleges the woman began to feel woozy after taking a drink at the party and wandered into a nearby bedroom. The woman alleges Carter raped her first, followed by Combs. The woman says she hit Combs and ran out of the party, according to the amended lawsuit.
A lengthy statement was posted from Jay-Z on Roc Nation’s X account addressing Buzbee’s alleged involvement. Roc Nation, founded by Jay-Z, is a full-service management, music publishing and entertainment company.
In the statement, Jay-Z said his lawyer received a demand letter from Buzbee because Buzbee knew the “nature of these allegations and public scrutiny” would make Jay-Z and his lawyer want to settle the suit.
“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!!,” Jay-Z said in the statement.
The rapper then encourages Buzbee to file a criminal complaint as the allegations are “so heinous in nature.”
“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,” Jay-Z said.
Jay-Z then said he researched Buzbee and said he has a “pattern of these type of theatrics.”
“I have no idea how you have come to be such a deplorable human Mr. Buzbee, but I promise you I have seen your kind many times over. I’m more than prepared to deal with your type. You claim to be a marine?! Marines are known for their valor, you have neither honor nor dignity,” Jay-Z said.
He then mentions his family in the statement, including H-Town native Beyoncé. He said his only heartbreak comes from having to sit down with his children and explain the “cruelty and greed of people.”
“I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit,” he said.
The music mogul then goes on to say Buzbee made a “terrible error in judgment thinking all celebrities are the same.”
“I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain,” he said. “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 ends the statement by saying, “I look forward to showing you just how different I am.”
Buzbee responded on his X account saying Jay-Z previously denied being the one who sued him and his firm and that the rapper 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. Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation,” Buzbee said in his X post.
Since sending the letter on behalf of the alleged victim, Buzbee said Jay-Z not only sued him but has tried to “bully and harass” him and the plaintiff.
“His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve. As far as the allegations in the complaint filed, we will let the filing speak for itself and will litigate the facts in court, not in the media.” Buzbee said to end his statement.