Musician and producer Jay-Z was accused in a lawsuit submitted Sunday of raping a 13-year-old with hip-hop star Sean Combs in the year 2000, court documents show, claims denied by Jay-Z.
An updated complaint in a civil case against Combs alleges that Jay-Z, whose name is Shawn Carter, and Combs raped the girl at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in September of 2000.
The lawsuit claims that in 2000, when Doe was 13, Combs and Carter raped her at a house party after the MTV Video Music Awards in New York.
The lawsuit says a friend dropped her off at the VMAs at Radio City Music Hall. She did not have a ticket, and she approached various limousine drivers to try to gain access to the show or an after-party.
One driver, the lawsuit says, told her that he worked for Combs and that she “fit what Diddy was looking for.” He invited her to a party after the show and told her to return to his car later in the evening after he transported Carter and Combs, the suit says.
Later, the driver picked her up, the suit says, and after 20 minutes they arrived at a white house with a U-shaped driveway, the suit says. She had to sign a document she believed was a nondisclosure agreement on arrival — and did not receive a copy — to enter the party, which the suit says was filled with celebrities and people doing marijuana and cocaine.
She was offered a drink that made her feel “woozy, lightheaded and felt [like] she needed to lie down,” the suit says, and she went into a room to rest.
Shortly afterward, the suit says, Combs and Carter entered the room with Combs saying, “You are ready to party!”
That’s when, she alleges, Carter removed her clothes, held her down and raped her while Combs and an unnamed female celebrity watched. She says Combs also raped her as Carter and the woman looked on.
“Another celebrity stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting the minor. Many others were present at the after party, but did nothing to stop the assault,” the complaint reads.
The suit says that she was able to resist being forced to perform oral sex on Combs by hitting him in the neck and that he “stopped.”
After the alleged assault, the suit says, she “grabbed her clothes” and left. She made her way to a gas station, where she called her father, it says.
The accuser is seeking unspecified damages. The lawsuit is filed under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act.
“Carter has been with Combs during many such instances described herein. Both perpetrators must face justice.”
READ ALSO: Messi named MLS Most Valuable Player after record-setting season
Tony Buzbee, the Texas lawyer representing the girl who filed Sunday’s lawsuit, has filed at least 20 civil lawsuits against Combs accusing him of sexual misconduct, and has used Instagram, a phone hotline and a news conference to find clients.
All of his suits have initially been filed by anonymous plaintiffs. A judge will determine whether the plaintiff in this suit can proceed without revealing her identity.
In an email to Reuters, Buzbee said the Jay-Z lawsuit “speaks for itself”.
“This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court,” Buzbee wrote.
Buzbee, in his amended lawsuit, says his law firm had previously sent Jay-Z a letter seeking to mediate a settlement.
Jay-Z, the lawsuit says, responded to that letter by filing a lawsuit against Buzbee, and by “orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment” against Buzbee and other lawyers in his firm, which the lawyer said was an intimidation tactic meant to silence his client.
Jay-Z had originally been identified in the complaint as “Celebrity A”, the update lawsuit states, accusing Carter of filing a “frivolous” counter suit.
The plaintiff is not identified in the lawsuit. Jay-Z fired back at the lawyer bringing the case, accusing him of being a “deplorable human.”
“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,” said a statement published on X by Jay-Z’s label Roc Nation.
“These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whoever 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’s statement concluded by expressing his support 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”. “My only heartbreak is for my family,” Carter said in the statement.
“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,” Carter added
He said Buzbee had made “a terrible error in judgement” in assuming all celebrities were 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 honour.
“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.”
Carter, 55, is a billionaire record producer and entrepreneur who started out as a rapper and is now married to superstar Beyonce.
Buzbee, the lawyer bringing the action against Jay-Z, told AFP “the pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court.”
Rapper Combs, known as “Diddy,” has separately been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering.
Federal prosecutors allege that Combs, 55, sexually abused women and coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his criminal trial is currently slated to begin on May 5, 2025.
Combs has also faced a massive wave of suits promised by lawyers including Texas attorney Buzbee, who said in October that more than 100 alleged victims were planning legal action against him.
