Jay-Z Named With Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in Sexual Assault Lawsuit; Jay-Z Calls Claims ‘Idiotic’ in Fiery Response
UPDATED: Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, was accused Sunday in a civil lawsuit of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The lawsuit, which was first filed back in October, had originally listed Combs as the defendant. It has since been refiled to name Carter as well. The accusation comes from an anonymous “Jane Doe,” who claimed Combs and Carter raped her in 2000 after they had brought her to an MTV Music Video Awards afterparty.
More from Variety
In a fiery response on Sunday afternoon, Jay-Z claimed his lawyer was sent “blackmail” surrounding the allegations from attorney Tony Buzbee in an effort to pressure him into settling out of court. Carter went on to say that it had the “opposite effect” and instead enflamed Carter to expose his accusor for “the fraud [they] are in a VERY public fashion.”
“You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same. I’m not from your moral world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn,” Carter wrote. “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. 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.” His reponse appears in full below.
On Monday, Jay-Z filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The filing from his attorney, Alex Spiro, specifically requests that the Jane Doe’s identity be disclosed “in order to properly defend himself against this false claim through the legal process in a transparent manner.”
In aresponse to Jay-Z’s response, Buzbee wrote on social media Sunday, in part: “Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. He 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. 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.”
Combs was jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York after he was arrested Sept. 16 on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Denied bail by two different judges, Combs will remain incarcerated until his trial on May 5, 2025, and could face life in jail if convicted of the racketeering charge.
One of the first assault lawsuits against Combs’ came from his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, on Nov. 16, 2023. She accused the rapper of physical abuse, rape and sex trafficking.
The lawsuit was privately settled the next day on undisclosed terms. On May 17, 2023, CNN released security footage from a Los Angeles hotel of Combs assaulting Ventura in 2016. Shortly after, Combs released a video on Instagram apologizing and claiming he had “hit rock bottom.”
NBC News was the first to report the lawsuit.
Jay-Z’s response follows in full:
STATEMENT FROM SHAWN “JAY-Z” CARTER
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.
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!!
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.
This lawyer, who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have 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.
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. 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.
My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.
You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that 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. 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.
I look forward to showing you just how different I am.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.