EXCLUSIVE: JAY-Z Says Tony Buzbee Caused “Incalculable Harm,” Demands Judge Take Action
Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter is firing back against allegations that he and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a teenager in 2000.
JAY-Z and his legal team, led by attorney Alex Spiro, have accused the plaintiff’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of engaging in misconduct and filing a baseless lawsuit.
Citing inconsistencies in the claims and evidence of unethical behavior by Buzbee, Carter’s team has called for the case to be dismissed.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, alleges that Jane Doe, the plaintiff, was sexually assaulted at an afterparty hosted by Combs after the MTV Video Music Awards.
The amended complaint names JAY-Z as a defendant, identifying him as the second individual involved in the alleged assault.
However, JAY-Z’s attorneys have challenged the claims, describing them as “wholly unreliable” and accusing Buzbee of failing to investigate before filing the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff’s unsupported allegations crumble under scrutiny, as the evidence—and lack thereof—reveals glaring inconsistencies and outright impossibilities in her story,” JAY-Z’s filing states.
Among the issues raised are contradictions in the timeline, details of the alleged assault, and the locations described by the plaintiff.
The allegations center around an afterparty supposedly held at a private residence described as a “large white house with a gated U-shaped driveway.”
However, photos from the night of the alleged incident show JAY-Z at a New York City nightclub called Lotus, which bears no resemblance to the residence described in the complaint.
Additionally, photos show Diddy and Jennifer Lopez at separate parties at other New York nightclubs that evening, further contradicting the plaintiff’s claims.
Jane Doe’s statements to NBC News have also cast doubt on her story.
In the interview, Doe admitted to making mistakes in identifying people and events, saying, “Not all the faces there are as clear.”
She acknowledged that she may have been “guessing” about key details, including the time it took to travel to the alleged party.
Her father, who she claimed drove five hours from Rochester to pick her up, denied that the event ever occurred, telling NBC, “I feel like I would remember that, and I don’t. . . that’s something that would definitely stick in my mind.”
The motion also pointed out that Doe’s claim of speaking with musician Benji Madden at the party was demonstrably false.
Madden was not in New York then but on tour in the Midwest with his band, Good Charlotte. This revelation further undermines her credibility.
Spiro’s filing accuses Buzbee of attempting to extort JAY-Z before filing the lawsuit.
According to the motion, Buzbee threatened to publicly accuse JAY-Z of sexually assaulting multiple minors unless JAY-Z agreed to an exorbitant settlement.
When JAY-Z refused, Buzbee amended the complaint to include him as a defendant.
The motion also highlights Buzbee’s troubling history of misconduct in other cases, including allegations of pressuring clients to fabricate evidence and unethical fee arrangements.
In one instance, a federal court invalidated a referral agreement orchestrated by Buzbee as a violation of public policy.
In another case, Buzbee was rebuked by a California judge for violating pretrial rulings and attempting to introduce prohibited evidence during a trial.
“Buzbee’s chronic inability to follow the rules in this case and others creates a substantial risk that he will destroy evidence damaging to Plaintiff’s case, including evidence of his own misconduct,” the filing states.
JAY-Z’s legal team has requested an immediate preservation order to prevent the destruction of relevant evidence.
The rap star’s lawyers have filed a motion to strike the allegations against him, describing them as “scandalous” and “immaterial.”
They argue that the claims serve no legitimate purpose but to damage JAY-Z’s reputation and coerce a settlement.
“The salacious allegations against Mr. Carter serve no purpose other than to harass him and to pressure him to settle a lawsuit based on false claims,” the motion states.
The impact of the allegations has been significant, according to Spiro. “These allegations have caused incalculable harm to Mr. Carter, his family, his businesses, his employees, and his legacy,” he said in the filing.
The court will hear arguments on the preservation order and motion to dismiss later this week.