Jay-Z has ascended to the top of hip-hop and broke barriers, opening the doors for those who’ve followed him and eventually, earning the title of hip-hop’s first official billionaire. For the most part, he’s managed to maintain a relatively near and tidy image. He’s gone on to achieve things that most wouldn’t have imagined were possible within a lifetime.
However, Hov hasn’t gone through his career without criticism or backlash. The latest allegations against him are appalling, for lack of better terms. A newly amended lawsuit against Diddy accuses the 55-year-old Brooklyn native of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000. The lawsuit, filed by Tony Buzbee, claims that she was drugged at a VMA afterparty when she was hardly a teenager and woke up to being sexually assaulted by Diddy and Jay-Z. Though his name was initially redacted as “Celebrity A” in the initial filing, the recent amendment has spotlighted Jay-Z in unflattering ways. The rapper has since denied all of the claims against him.
Background
Though the lawsuit initially focused on Diddy’s alleged wrongdoings, the amended file lists Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter as a defendant. It states that around September 7th, 2000, a friend of the then 13-year-old Plaintiff drove her to Radio City Music Hall in New York City where MTV hosted their annual Music Video Awards. Doe said she arrived at the venue where crowds surrounded artists and celebrities until the show began. At that point, she remained outside and watched the ceremony from a jumbotron. The lawsuit claims she was determined to make her way into the award show or an afterparty and approached limousine drivers parked outside of the venue in an attempt to talk her way in.
Eventually, Doe spoke to a limousine driver who she claims worked for Diddy. The driver reportedly told her that the Bad Boy founder “liked younger girls" and said she "fit what Diddy was looking for.” The lawsuit said the driver took her to the afterparty after chauffeuring Combs and others to the event which was located at a “large white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway.” Doe said she signed an NDA upon her arrival, though she never received a copy.
The Afterparty Accusations Against Jay-Z & Diddy
Once entering the party, she recognized several celebrities she wanted to see at the award shows. She said some she met while waitstaff walked around the room with trays of drinks. Doe added that there she witnessed marijuana and cocaine being used openly. Eventually, she said she accepted a drink described as a “reddish-yellow mixture that tasted like orange juice, cranberry juice, and something bitter.” The suit claims she felt “woozy and lightheaded” after taking a few sips and needed to lie down.
The Plaintiff said that she entered an empty room with a single bed, though she didn’t lock the door. She claims Diddy, Jay-Z, and an unnamed female celebrity, listed as Celebrity B, entered the room with Diddy allegedly grabbing her and screaming, “You are ready to party!” She claims Diddy threw her against a wall, and once she stood up, he threw her onto the bed before Jay-Z allegedly began undressing her while she became disoriented. The lawsuit claims that Jay-Z raped her while Celebrity B watched. Diddy allegedly attempted to force her to perform fellatio on him but she punched him and he stopped, she said.
Buzbee claims that Jay-Z and Diddy violated the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act by committing a “crime of violence motivated by gender.” As a result, Doe suffered from “physical injuries, emotional distress, psychological harm, anxiety, humiliation, physical and emotional pain and suffering, family and social disruption, and other harm.” She seeks an unspecified amount that will be determined in court.
Jay-Z Responds
Within minutes of the reports emerging, Jay-Z issued a rare statement calling out Buzbee and referred to the lawsuit as a “blackmail attempt.” Jay suggested that the “demand letter” was an attempt to make him settle due to the public scrutiny. “These allegations are so heinous 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?” he wrote. Describing Buzbee as a “deplorable human,” Jay said the attorney “seems to have a pattern of these type of theatrics.” “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.”
Jay offered his condolences to the “true victims” in the world before issuing some serious words to Buzbee. “I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn," adding that from where he's from, they "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,” he wrote. “I look forward to showing you just how different I am.”
The Anonymous Lawsuit
On November 18th, law firm Quinn Emanuel, who has represented Jay-Z in the past, filed a lawsuit against Buzbee for extortion “based on Buzbee’s threats of publicizing false information for financial gain.” At the time, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a “John Doe." Buzbee later issued a message on his Instagram page where he stated that he would not “allow the powerful and their high-dollar lawyers to intimidate or silence sexual assault survivors.”
“It has been reported that a lawsuit has been filed against my firm claiming extortion. The lawyers that filed it also immediately called TMZ in an apparent effort to silence those who allege sexual assault,” it reads. “The case filed against my firm is not only without legal merit, it is laughable. Here is why: On behalf of two clients who allege sexual assault, we sent a standard demand letter to a New York lawyer that we know represents an alleged perpetrator and potential defendant. The letters were sent seeking a confidential mediation in lieu of filing a lawsuit. No amount of money was included in the demand letters. No threats were made. The demand letters sent are no different than the ones routinely sent by lawyers across the country in all types of cases.”
The amended lawsuit now includes claims that Jay-Z was the John Doe, stating, “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.”
Buzbee Fires Back At Jay-Z
The disrespect toward Buzbee’s marine background evidently hit a sore spot, leading the attorney to fire back via Instagram. Accompanied by a photo of his time in the marine, he accused Jay-Z and his team of a “coordinated and aggressive effort that has included harassing my kids, contacting my clients and former clients to encourage them to sue me, contacting my colleagues or former employees asking if I’ve “abused” them, showing up at my current employees’ homes to harass them, filing frivolous cases against me and my law firm, defaming me with outrageous assertions to anyone who will listen, and having mysterious people follow me and my family, I’m still THAT guy.” He added, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant and I am quite certain the sun is coming.”
In a subsequent tweet, he added, “What [Jay-Z] 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.”
Jay-Z’s Attorneys Want Plaintiff To Identify Herself
Following Buzbee’s social media posts, Jay-Z’s attorneys fired back in court where they, not only took issue with the Instagram and X/Twitter claims but also demanded that the Plaintiff reveal her identity. “Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint should be dismissed, and the motion to proceed anonymously denied as moot. In the alternative, the Court should require Plaintiff to identify herself so that Mr. Carter can adequately defend himself against these baseless and spurious allegations,” the filing reads. Moreover, Jay-Z’s attorneys accused Buzbee of fueling this lawsuit through a personal agenda, rather than trying to bring justice to the alleged accuser.
“Defendant Shawn Carter has built an impeccable reputation. He has never been accused of, let alone engaged in, any sexual misconduct. Until today, when Plaintiff—in an Amended Complaint filed by Attorney Anthony Buzbee—has leveled baseless allegations and accused Mr. Carter of despicable acts while hiding behind the pseudonym ‘Jane Doe.’ These claims are not about justice for victims. Nor are they about giving victims of sexual violence a voice. Instead, they are merely the next chapter in Attorney Buzbee’s sprawling extortion saga—a saga whose aim is base and measured in dollars. Buzbee has devoted himself to the business of extracting large settlements from celebrities, high-net-worth individuals, and businesses with any public ties to Sean Combs Combs (a/k/a “P. Diddy,” a/k/a “Puff Daddy,” a/k/a“Diddy,” a/k/a “PD,” and a/k/a “Love”) following his indictment for sex crimes in September 2024.”
A Letter Requesting A Dismissal
Shortly after demanding to unmask the accuser, Alex Spiro, Jay-Z’s attorney, wrote a letter to Judge Analisa Torres requesting that the case be dismissed entirely. Spiro echoed similar sentiments in the recent court filing responding to the lawsuit in the letter. “Due to the highly sensitive nature of this matter and the intense media scrutiny it has generated, we respectfully request to be heard on an expedited basis. 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,” the letter reads. The letter also accuses Jane Doe and Buzbee of trying to use the judicial process to “generate unwarranted media attention and pressure Mr. Carter into a settlement.”
Buzbee Gets Shakespearean On Hov
The public’s perception of Buzbee undoubtedly became impacted by Jay-Z’s statement and legal filings. However, as media outlets continued to highlight Jay-Z’s defiant press release, Buzbee, once again, issued a statement bashing claims that he tried to “extort and blackmail” the rapper. Buzbee denied that he made any threats but instead, sent a “standard demand letter seeking a mediation on behalf of a woman who alleges Jay-Z sexually assaulted her as a minor.” While Jay-Z targeted Buzbee in his statement, along with his court filing, the attorney said that his client preferred “to attempt resolution short of filing a lawsuit.”
“What you are seeing played out now is a coordinated and desperate effort to focus the public’s attention on me personally to avoid attention on the allegations being made by my clients. This effort has included harassing my family and colleagues and even offering former clients money to sue me—which is illegal,” the tweet continues. “When an alleged perpetrator behaves in this manner, wildly asserting that a basic demand letter is “extortion,” and aggressively using the media to attack the opposing lawyer while at the same time ignoring the allegations being made by the alleged victim, it reminds me of a famous line from Shakespeare: ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’”
Coercion Claims
Alex Spiro, Jay-Z’s attorney, told the judge they have reason to believe that Buzbee could be pressuring clients to create false accusations, per TMZ. In a declaration filed to the court, Spiro said that one of his associates received a lead from a woman who claimed that she once contacted Buzbee’s firm for representation in court over sexual trafficking and abuse claims. What’s interesting about these claims is that she saw Buzbee’s call out to anyone who may have been an alleged victim of Diddy, though she reportedly claimed her accusations had nothing to do with the mogul. Still, she said Buzbee asked her, “At what point did you meet Diddy?”
According to the claim, the woman said she felt “forced to lie." When she refused, Buzbee’s firm reportedly dropped her as a client. Furthermore, Spiro said that the woman reached out to his firm because Buzbee’s conduct “discredits those who are legitimate victims,” and her anonymity was due to her fear of retaliation.
Buzbee Calls It "Ridiculous"
“This is so ridiculous. If someone calls our intake and has a viable case that we believe has merit and we can pursue we will pursue it. We are currently pursuing hundreds of cases against individuals other than PDiddy. What we won’t do is pursue a case that we don’t believe has merit,” Buzbee told TMZ in response. “I can’t speak to what she told the intake folks to even tell you what this woman claimed if and when she called,” he continued, adding, "We certainly don’t need to 'pressure' anyone to pursue a case."
“Jay-Z’s team is desperate and seemingly out of control,” he added in a statement to Deadline. “Their investigators have recently been caught on tape offering current clients of our firm one thousand dollars to sue our firm. This conduct is reprehensible and illegal. There will be consequences coming soon.”
Alleged Recorded Audio
Doubling down on his statements to Deadline, Buzbee, once again, shared some information through his social media channels surrounding Jay-Z and Spiro’s alleged conduct. Buzbee said he has recorded phone calls with “investigators” from New York who contacted current and former clients with promises of getting them paid. Sharing alleged transcripts from a call, he revealed that they said: “anyone Googling Buzbee and his company -- his practice -- are going into litigation.” Furthermore, they allegedly said that they’re putting together “this thing” for a company they work for, adding that “We gave this kid 1,000 bucks to start yesterday just to get him on the right path,” and blatantly stating that “At the end of the day, this is going to go through the courts, Buzbee is getting sued.” In short, Buzbee said, “These guys are on tape offering to pay clients to sue our law firm. That’s a crime.”
Disgruntled Client Sues Buzbee
There have been plenty of questions arising from Buzbee’s amended lawsuit, along with the claims issued on Jay-Z’s behalf. However, there’s at least one former client of Buzbee who claims that there might be merit to Hov and Spiro’s claims. Per TMZ, Matthew Ray Thompson Jr. filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Buzbee withheld a large amount of his settlement money. Worse, he says that Buzbee loaned him his own funds with high interest.
Thompson Jr. claimed that he retained Buzbee, who filed a lawsuit on his behalf in November 2023, after a work-related injury. While pending trial, he received automatic payments from his employer but those payments were redirected to Buzbee. Thompson claimed that these funds were loaned to him from Buzbee, who allegedly held more than 60% of the money while tacking on interest. Moreover, Thompson claims other clients have dealt with similar tactics by Buzbee’s firm. “Buzbee has become rich by milking settlements with threats of negative attention from people who rely on their public reputations for livelihood,” the suit reads.
Buzbee responded to Thompson Jr, claiming that the allegations were false. "Mr. Thompson was solicited and paid to bring this case. It has no merit. The lawyers who brought it would have seen that had they bothered to do any due diligence at all," he said. "The bottom line is that the investigators who manufactured this case and the lawyers who filed it were reckless and foolish. The case is junk and the effort behind it will be exposed."
He added, "Jay-Z’s investigators contacted more than forty former clients they apparently found on Venmo. They each were offered $1000 to sue me. We have the investigators caught on tape admitting they gave this 'client' money to bring this case. We will be seeking state bar action against the lawyers involved because such conduct is a state law crime and also violates the ethical rules that govern lawyers. The case itself is frivolous and will be dismissed as such."
Will This Impact Jay-Z’s Partnership With The NFL?
Some have questioned how these allegations should impact Jay-Z’s businesses. However, AP reports that the rape allegation against Jay-Z won’t impact his deal with the league. Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the league’s relationship with Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation has produced Super Bowl halftime shows, remains unchanged despite ongoing litigation.
The NFL’s collaboration with Roc Nation began in 2019 and recently expanded. Kendrick Lamar is set to headline the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans, with Roc Nation co-producing. Additionally, Beyoncé, Jay-Z’s wife, will perform at the Ravens-Texans game on Christmas. Goodell praised Roc Nation’s contributions to league events and social justice initiatives.