Warning: This article includes discussions of rape which some readers may find distressing.
Jay-Z is initiating legal action against his accuser and her legal team following the withdrawal of their case against him.
An anonymous woman accused the hip-hop artist Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, of raping her at the age of 13.
The accuser, referred to as Jane Doe, claimed that Jay-Z committed the act during an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. She also accused Diddy, also known as Sean Combs, of drugging and raping her.
The lawsuit was initially filed against Combs in October and later included Jay-Z’s name in December. Jay-Z and his defense have consistently denied these allegations.
In response to the original accusations, Jay-Z issued a strong statement, part of which stated: “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!!”
Following the dismissal of the accusations against him, Jay-Z has decided to move forward with his own lawsuit.
On March 3, Carter lodged a lawsuit against the woman, who resides in Alabama, along with her attorneys, Tony Buzbee and David Fortney.
Carter’s legal action claims that the woman confessed to his representatives that her story was fabricated.
His lawyers state that the woman ‘voluntarily admitted directly to representatives of Mr. Carter that the story brought before the world in court and on global television was just that: a false, malicious story.’
The lawsuit also alleges that Jane Doe mentioned her lawyer Buzbee encouraged her to ‘go forward with the false story against Mr. Carter.’
However, as reported by the New York Times, the lawsuit does not specify how or why the plaintiff made this admission or to whom she spoke.
Buzbee, in a statement following the filing, argued that Jay-Z’s lawsuit lacks legal foundation and insists the woman maintains her version of events. He commented: “After speaking with Jane Doe today, it appears that the quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit are completely made up, or they spoke to someone who isn’t Jane Doe. This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course. We won’t be bullied or intimidated by frivolous cases.”
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can reach out to The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673), available around the clock. Alternatively, you can chat online via online.rainn.org.