Jay-Z, the billionaire rapper and entrepreneur, found himself catapulted into Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex abuse saga Dec. 8 when he was named as a co-defendant in a refiled lawsuit garnering global headlines. In the amended complaint, the Grammy winner, born Shawn Carter, was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl alongside Combs at an awards show afterparty more than 20 years ago.
Carter quickly denied the allegations, branding them “heinous” and part of a “blackmail attempt.” Hours later, his high-powered lawyer Alex Spiro put a finer point on the denial, calling the claims utterly “false” and “unfounded.” In court filings, Carter and Spiro urged a federal judge to unmask the Jane Doe or dismiss her complaint. Spiro said his client “never” sexually assaulted anyone and has no idea who the woman is.
“He’s upset,” Spiro said of how Carter was holding up under the accusation. “He’s upset that somebody would be allowed to do this, would make a mockery of the system like this. He’s upset that this distracts and dissuades real victims from coming forward. He’s upset that his kids and his family have to deal with this. He’s upset, and he should be upset.”
Carter and Spiro have notably aimed most of their contempt at Tony Buzbee, the prominent Houston attorney who brought the amended lawsuit in New York and is representing 20 accusers in lawsuits filed against Combs. They called Buzbee a “fraud” orchestrating a “shakedown” and confirmed Carter is the John Doe “celebrity” who sued Buzbee for alleged extortion in Los Angeles on Nov. 18.
They claimed Buzbee added Carter’s name to the lawsuit as “a clear act of retaliation” because Carter sued first. Buzbee vigorously denied any extortion and has vowed to keep fighting. As the ferocious feud plays out in multiple courtrooms, here’s what you need to know:
What does the Jane Doe allege exactly?
In her original paperwork filed Oct. 20, the Jane Doe alleged Combs and an unidentified male celebrity took turns raping her at a private afterparty following the MTV Video Music Awards in New York in 2000. She says she was 13 years old at the time and gained access to the party by showing up to Radio City Music Hall without a ticket, chatting to Combs’ limo driver, and scoring an invitation because she allegedly “fit what Diddy was looking for,” per the lawsuit. The updated version of the suit filed on Dec. 8 identified Carter as the male celebrity. It claimed that once the girl allegedly was drugged, Carter removed her clothes and assaulted her first, while Combs and an unidentified female celebrity watched. The alleged female celebrity remained anonymous in the amended complaint.
On Dec. 13, the woman spoke with NBC News and acknowledged inconsistencies in her story. After first telling the outlet she mingled with musician Benji Madden at the party, she later admitted she may have misidentified people. The concession came after a representative for Madden said he was on tour in a different state and did not attend the VMAs that year – and after the woman’s father also said he did not recall picking her up a gas station after the alleged rape, as she alleged. He said he lived five hours away at the time. “So I have made some mistakes,” the woman said in a follow-up interview. “I may have made a mistake in identifying [Madden.]” The woman said she still stands by her claims.
How did Jay-Z roll out his response?
Less than an hour after news of the amended lawsuit broke, Carter released a lengthy statement on X, formerly Twitter, using his Roc Nation account. The first line referenced Buzbee and the alleged “blackmail attempt.” Carter said he believes Buzbee thought the threat of such disturbing allegations going public would force his hand. He called it a miscalculation. “I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!” he wrote. Carter said the allegations against him would be “laughable” if not so serious and that anyone who “would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away.” He lamented having to sit-down with his wife, Beyoncé, to prepare their young kids for exposure to the news.
“I have no idea how you have become such a deplorable human Mr. Buzbee, but I promise you I have seen your kind many times over,” he wrote. “You claim to be a marine?! Marines are known for their valor, you have neither valor nor dignity.” Carter said Buzbee “made a terrible error in judgment” thinking he was like other celebrities. “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.”
In his motion seeking to publicly identify his Jane Doe accuser, Carter and his lawyer called the rape allegations “patently false.” They said Carter “has no idea who plaintiff is, or who she could possibly be.” They said Carter has built an “impeccable reputation” that he stands by. “He has never been accused of, let alone engaged in, any sexual misconduct,” they said.
In a letter to the court Dec. 9, Spiro urged the judge to act quickly and clarified that his client has no link to Combs’ pending criminal prosecution. “For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Carter is entirely innocent. This is a shakedown. He is not mentioned, referenced, or implicated in any way in the criminal investigation of Mr. Combs. He is neither a target nor a person of interest in that investigation,” Spiro wrote. In yet another filing Dec. 18, Spiro asked for an “emergency” protective order preserving evidence. He claimed Buzbee has a “history of abusing the legal process” and alleged there’s a “substantial risk that Buzbee will destroy evidence damaging to [Jane Doe’s] case, including evidence of his own misconduct.” Spiro argued Buzbee failed to properly vet his client and suggested he would seek sanctions.
What is Jay-Z’s defense?
As Carter maintains his innocence, his legal team have zeroed in on Jane Doe’s timeline of events, claiming it would be impossible for the alleged assault to have happened within the timeframe that she gave. They point to her NBC interview and claim other details of her story are false. They say there was no Jumbotron broadcasting the VMAs outside Radio City Music Hall that year and that Combs did not host a party at a “large white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway” within 20 minutes of Manhattan. “No such house exists,” Spiro wrote in the Dec. 18 filing. The lawyer said photos also show Combs and former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were at the New York nightclubs Lotus and Twirl after the 2000 VMAs, and that Carter “separately” was at Lotus after the ceremony.
“You have to look at the timeline,” Spiro told a group of reporters on Dec. 16. “There’s an old expression that time doesn’t lie … these are not minor inconsistencies. These are not minor problems with these stories. This is utter falsehoods. Time never lies.”
What’s the deal with Jay-Z’s extortion lawsuit against Buzbee?
Before he was named in Jane Doe’s lawsuit, Carter filed his extortion claim against Buzbee in Los Angeles County Superior Court as a preemptive strike. Filed on Nov. 18, the lawsuit initially identified Carter as a John Doe “celebrity and public figure” living in Los Angeles with his family. Carter said he felt like he had “a gun to his head” and decided to sue proactively “to avoid the irreparable harm to [his] reputation” that might result from Buzbee naming him first. He claimed Buzbee was trying to extort “exorbitant sums” in exchange for not filing “wildly false horrific allegations” against him related to “multiple” plaintiffs, “both male and female.” (Only one Jane Doe accuser has named Carter in a lawsuit.)
Carter included claims for extortion and intentional infliction of emotional distress in his 17-page filing obtained by Rolling Stone. He asked for a jury trial and both real and punitive damages. In his Dec. 9 motion seeking to identify the Jane Doe accuser in New York, Carter and his lawyer said they believe Buzbee added Carter to the amended lawsuit as a reprisal. “Make no mistake, this case is about retaliating against the rare target who would not pay,” the motion said.
How has Buzbee responded to Jay-Z’s denial and counter-offensive?
Buzbee adamantly denied accusations that he was attempting to extort Carter. “Sending a basic litigation demand letter and then filing a lawsuit isn’t extortion or blackmail,” he said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “That’s the legal practice.” Declaring that he won’t be “bullied or intimidated,” Buzbee called Carter’s lawsuit against him a “silly sideshow that tries to make the lawyers the focus of what are very serious allegations brought by a courageous woman.”
On Dec. 18, Buzbee filed a lawsuit on behalf of one of his former clients claiming Roc Nation, Spiro’s firm Quinn Emanuel and Mississippi attorney Marcy Croft were “conspiring” to “obstruct justice” in the Jane Doe case. The lawsuit alleged Carter’s longtime company and its lawyers were attempting to use “shadowy operatives” and promised paydays to illegally entice former Buzbee clients into filing “frivolous” claims against him. Roc Nation responded by calling the lawsuit “baloney” and “another sham.”
In a Dec. 20 letter addressed to the judge overseeing Jane Doe’s lawsuit, Buzbee defended his client after the NBC News interview and the claims she wasn’t properly vetted. He said expecting his client “to have perfect recall of all facts is outrageous” considering she was a minor at the time of the alleged rape and also is autistic. “Carter’s threat of an ‘immediate’ sanctions motion on the first whisper of factual uncertainty is just one more instance of bullying,” Buzbee wrote.
Who is Tony Buzbee?
Buzbee, 56, is a lawyer and Texas native known for his combative courtroom demeanor, flashy lifestyle and skill at commanding media attention. His national fame snowballed after he sued British Petroleum (BP) on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs harmed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 people and caused a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He represents multiple women who have alleged NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson sexually assaulted them. He also filed a $750 million lawsuit on behalf of more than 125 plaintiffs harmed by the deadly crowd crush at Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld Festival in Houston.
A former Marine, Buzbee also has run for elected office multiple times, unsuccessfully. He was chair of the Galveston County Democratic Party in the early 2000s before throwing his support behind Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2012 and donating $500,000 to Donald Trump’s inauguration committee in 2017.
When did Buzbee get involved with Combs’ legal saga?
Buzbee launched himself to the forefront of the civil lawsuits piling up against Combs when he held a press conference on Oct. 1 and said he was working with at least 120 plaintiffs with credible claims against the already indicted music mogul. He filed an initial batch of six lawsuits on Oct. 14 and seven more on Oct. 20, including the lawsuit from the Jane Doe behind the Carter lawsuit. Altogether, Buzbee is linked to 20 lawsuits now pending against Combs in New York. The lawsuits are from both men and women, with the allegations stretching as far back as 1995. Six of the plaintiffs claim they were minors at the time of their alleged abuse. Combs has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
What has Buzbee said about other high-profile targets?
When Buzbee announced that he was representing more than 120 men and women with sexual assault claims against Combs, he vowed to “aggressively” go after anyone who might have been complicit.
“If you were there in the room, participated, watched it happen, and didn’t say anything or helped cover it up, in my view, you have a problem,” Buzbee said. “We want to make sure if we name individuals beyond Mr. Combs that we have done our homework because it is going to create a firestorm, and we understand that.”
Are there other high-profile co-defendants named in prior Combs’ lawsuits?
Beyond Combs, Carter is the most high-profile figure being sued as part of the Bad Boy Entertainment founder’s ongoing civil litigation. However, at least four other men associated with Combs have been named in lawsuits as bearing witness to alleged sexual assaults or participating in the alleged assaults themselves.
Liza Gardner claimed that singer-songwriter Aaron Hall and Combs sexually assaulted her after an Uptown Records event in 1990. Gardner claims that Jodeci singer DeVante Swing watched while she was being assaulted. (Hall has not responded to the accusation.)
Former Bad Boy CEO Harve Pierre was sued by two women for sexual assault. Anna Kane claimed Pierre lured her into flying from Detroit to New York City when she was 17 years old in 2003, alleging that she was gang-raped by Pierre, Combs, and an unknown third man. An anonymous woman also sued Pierre for sexual harassment and assault that allegedly occurred while she worked as his assistant from 2016 through 2017. (Pierre has denied both women’s claims.)
And Thalia Graves claimed that Combs and his bodyguard Joseph “Big Joe” Sherman sexually assaulted her at Combs’ recording studio in 2001. (Sherman vehemently denied Graves’ claims, saying he has never met Graves and didn’t work for Combs at the time. Last month, he sued Graves and her attorney, Gloria Allred, for defamation.)
How has Combs responded to Buzbee adding Jay-Z as a defendant?
Although Jane Doe’s case was filed in October, Combs’ civil legal team has not formally entered the lawsuit. Still, through statements from his attorneys, Combs denied the woman’s allegations and accused Buzbee of pulling “publicity stunts.”
“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,” Combs’ team said in a statement. “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.”
What’s next for Jane Doe’s lawsuit?
After the Jane Doe accuser amended her lawsuit to name Carter, the Roc Nation mogul formally responded to the complaint the next morning. He said the woman should be forced to reveal her name, arguing it wasn’t fair for him to be thrust into the spotlight while she remained anonymous.
“Mr. Carter should not have to defend himself in the brightest of spotlights against an accuser who hides in complete darkness while leveling allegations that describe the purported acts occurring in the plain sight of witnesses who could refute the plaintiff’s claims if only her identity was revealed,” Spiro wrote in court filings.
Carter’s team also sought to put the case before U.S. District Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke, the judge who ruled that Kane must use her real name to proceed with her lawsuit. Current presiding Judge Analisa Torres did not immediately rule on Carter’s request for an expedited hearing. In November, she granted the Jane Doe’s request to proceed under a pseudonym but noted that the court could reverse the decision.