 "Jay-Z accused of raping 13-yr-old in civil lawsuit. Here’s what we know")
A civil lawsuit has been filed against rapper Jay-Z accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl.
Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, is accused alongside Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
The complainant originally filed the civil lawsuit suit against Combs in October.
It has now been amended to name Jay-Z as party to the suit.
Jay-Z, who is married to Beyonce Knowles, is now the first celebrity accused of sexual assault in relation to Combs.
But what do we know about the lawsuit? And what about the other charges against Combs?
Let’s take a closer look:
What do we know?
The news of the lawsuit was first broken by NBC.
It was originally filed in the Southern District of New York by Tony Buzbee.
Buzbee, a Texas lawyer, has filed around 20 civil lawsuits against Combs.
As per BBC, the lawsuit was filed under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act.
As per CNN, the woman, designated Jane Doe, in the suit claims she was 13 when she was raped by Combs and Jay-Z.
Jane Doe is a pseudonym given to women whose identity remains unknown or who wish to conceal their identity in cases of sexual assault or abuse.
The incident allegedly occurred at a party after the 2000 Video Music Awards.
As per BBC, Doe says a friend took her to the music awards in New York.
According to ABC News, the complainant claimed that she was invited to the gathering by a limousine driver.
The driver claimed he was employed by Combs and that she “fit what Diddy was looking for.”
Doe says she was made to sign a document, likely a non-disclosure agreement, at the party.
She said she saw “many celebrities” at the party and an extensive use of drugs.
The woman in her complaint alleged she began feeling drowsy after having a drink at the party.
She then went into a bedroom where she claims was raped – first by Carter a13816971nd then by Combs.
According to BBC, the suit claims Combs approached her “with a crazed look in his eyes.”
He said, “You are ready to party!"
The complainant says tried to fight back during the assault.
She then struck Combs and then fled the party.
Jay-Z was originally designated as Celebrity A in the lawsuit.
“Another celebrity stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting the minor,” the lawsuit alleged, as per ABC News.
BBC reported that the lawsuit claims that a female celebrity was present during the assault.
Jay-Z has denied the allegations and accused Buzbee of a blackmail scheme.
As per ABC, Jay-Z released a statement saying, “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 expos I don’t know if I’m going to do anything I’m not going to do anything I’m going to e you for the fraud you are in a very public fashion. So no, I will not give you one read penny!!” he added.
Jay-Z also asked why a criminal case had not been filed.
“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 wrote.
He also said he felt bad for his family and his children.
“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,” he wrote.
Jay-Z and Beyonce have three children – 12-year-old Blue Ivy and 7-year-old twins Rumi and Sir.
Jay-Z claimed the lawyer “who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have a pattern of these type of Data theatrics!”
The Guardian quoted Jay-Z’s as offering 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”.
Jay-Z said “a terrible error in judgement.”
“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.”
Buzbee, on the other hand, said the Jay-Z lawsuit “speaks for itself.”
“This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court,” Buzbee wrote.
As per CNN, the amended suit claims Doe’s lawyers contacted Jay-Z to request “a mediation to resolve this matter.”
“Upon present information and belief, Jay-Z responded to said letter by not only filing an utterly frivolous lawsuit, but by also orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment, bullying and intimidation against Plaintiff’s lawyers, their families, employees and former associates in an attempt to silence Plaintiff from naming Jay-Z herein. This effort was meant to scare Plaintiff and to discredit her counsel. That effort failed. Indeed, Plaintiff chose to file this amendment as a result of the egregious conduct perpetuated by Carter,” the lawsuit states.
In a post on social media, Buzbee said the alleged rape victim he is representing “never demanded a penny” from Jay-Z, writing that “she only sought a confidential mediation.”
“People will see through this effort to discredit me and my clients and the truth will be revealed,” Buzbee wrote on Instagram. “I also won’t allow anyone to scare my clients into silence. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and I am quite certain the sun is coming,” he added.
Buzbee last week filed a lawsuit against law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, whose lawyers represent Combs and Jay-Z, accusing the firm’s legal team of harassing his colleagues, his clients and his family.
CNN in November reported that an anonymous male celebrity had filed a suit against Buzbee.
The celebrity claimed he was being shaken down.
The celebrity accused Buzbee of “shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him or else publicly file wildly false horrific allegations against him.”
The celebrity’s lawyers claimed Buzbee had “threatened to unleash entirely fabricated and salacious allegations of sexual assault” that included “multiple instances of rape of a minor, both male and female” if their client “refuses to comply with their demands.”
“If you are trying to hide your identity and you claim you did nothing wrong, doesn’t seem very smart to take this approach,” Buzbee told CNN at the time. “We will address it in due course.”
“I have confidence that with full public disclosure all of this will sort itself out,” Buzbee wrote.
What about the charges against Combs?
Combs is facing three felony counts – racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs has denied all allegations against him, including this one, in October.
Combs is currently in jail on federal sex trafficking charges.
Prosecutors have accused Combs of using his fame as one of hip-hop’s biggest names to coerce women into demeaning sexual acts as part of a long-running scheme of sex trafficking and racketeering.
The rapper and producer used his business empire including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women, as well as male sex workers, across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called “Freak Offs” in which the music mogul would watch and masturbate, prosecutors have alleged.
Also known during his career as P Diddy and Puff Daddy, Combs founded Bad Boy records.
He is credited with helping turn rappers and R&B singers such as Mary J Blige, Faith Evans, Notorious BIG and Usher into stars in the 1990s and 2000s.
Combs is the highest-profile music industry figure charged with sexual misconduct since R&B singer R Kelly was sentenced to a combined 31 years in prison after being convicted in New York in 2021 and Chicago in 2022 sex trafficking, racketeering, child sex crimes and other counts.
Hit with a series of civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual and other misconduct as well as a federal criminal investigation, Combs’ career has been derailed over the past year.
Combs’ legal representatives told ABC, “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.”
“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,” Combs’ representatives said in the statement.
With inputs from agencies
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