Jay-Z responded with a lengthy statement calling the allegations “idiotic.” The accuser is anonymous.
Jay-Z, the star rapper and entrepreneur whose real name is Shawn Carter, was accused in a lawsuit Sunday of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 allegedly along with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The anonymous accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” said the assault happened after she was driven to an MTV Video Music Awards after-party.
The federal lawsuit was originally filed in October in the Southern District of New York, listing Combs as a defendant. It was refiled Sunday to include Carter.
Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who filed the suit, did not comment.
Carter called the allegations “idiotic” in a lengthy statement Sunday evening and alleged that Buzbee was engaged in unprofessional behavior.
“These allegations are so heinous in nature 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?” Carter said in a statement to NBC News. “These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on whether the office is pursuing the case when shown NBC News’ report on the lawsuit.
Buzbee has filed several lawsuits in recent months — all have withheld their complainants’ names — accusing Combs of assault and rape. This is the first suit in which he has named another high-profile defendant.
In a statement, legal representatives for Combs called the suits “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,” the statement read.
Federal prosecutors in New York criminally charged Combs in September with racketeering, sex trafficking and other offenses, and he is behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after he was denied bail for a third time last month. His trial is scheduled for May 5.
Prosecutors said in a court hearing last month that they are in the process of potentially bringing more charges against Combs in a superseding indictment.
Before the lawsuit was refiled Sunday, “Carter received a letter from Plaintiff’s counsel requesting a mediation to resolve this matter,” Buzbee wrote in the suit. In response to the letter, which NBC News has seen, Carter filed his own lawsuit against the accuser’s attorneys, Buzbee wrote in the suit.
“You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same,” Carter added in his statement Sunday. “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 honor. We protect children.”
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.
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.
“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.
Jay-Z and Diddy accused of raping 13-year-old girl in civil lawsuit
The alleged rape took place following the 2000 Video Music Awards.
Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs are accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at an after-party following the 2000 Video Music Awards, according to an amended civil lawsuit filed Sunday.
“Another celebrity stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting the minor,” the lawsuit said without naming the celebrity.
In a statement posted to the Roc Nation X account on Sunday, Jay-Z denied the allegations made against him in the filing.
Jay-Z was added to the lawsuit that was originally filed in October as one of several anonymous complaints by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee.
Many of the lawsuits did not survive because the plaintiffs declined to be named; however, in this case, the judge said the then-13-year-old showed sufficient cause to continue anonymously.
Carter was identified in the original complaint as Celebrity A.
The plaintiff alleged she was noticed by a limousine driver who invited her to the after-party where Combs and Carter raped her.
In his statement, Jay-Z claimed Buzbee had sent his lawyer a “demand letter” ahead of the filing.
“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,” Jay-Z wrote.
“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!!” he added in the statement.
In his response, the music mogul questioned why the filing was a civil lawsuit rather than a criminal filing.
“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.
Jay-Z went on to address the fact that his family, including his children, may be affected by the filing.
“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.
In a statement to ABC News Buzbee said, “The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court.”
Buzbee also took to his personal Instagram account on Sunday, saying he would not be “bullied or intimidated,” without mentioning the specific lawsuit, Jay-Z or Diddy by name.
“People will see through this effort to discredit me and my clients and the truth will be revealed,” Buzbee wrote. “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.
Combs’ legal representatives responded to the filing in a statement to ABC News on Sunday, saying, “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.
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z,[a] is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive.[8][9][10] Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023, and topped Forbes list of “The 50 Top Rappers Of All Time” in 2024.[11][12] Known for his lyrical prowess which often utilises double entendres, witty wordplays, and mixes messages with braggadocio, his music often describes his rise from poverty to vast wealth. He served as president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007, and founded the entertainment company Roc Nation the following year.[13]
A protégé of fellow New York City-based rapper Jaz-O, Jay-Z began his musical career in the late 1980s; he co-founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994 to release his first two studio albums Reasonable Doubt (1996) and In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), both of which were met with critical acclaim. Each of his eleven subsequent albums, including The Blueprint (2001), The Black Album (2003), American Gangster (2007), and 4:44 (2017), debuted atop the Billboard 200; Jay-Z holds the record for the most number-one albums (14) of any solo artist on the chart.[14][15][16] He has also released the collaborative albums The Best of Both Worlds (2002) and Unfinished Business (2004) with singer R. Kelly,[17] Collision Course (2004) with Linkin Park, Watch the Throne (2011) with Kanye West, and Everything Is Love (2018) with his wife Beyoncé.[18] He peaked the Billboard Hot 100 on four occasions: once as a lead artist with his 2009 single “Empire State of Mind” (featuring Alicia Keys), and thrice with his guest performances on the singles “Heartbreaker” by Mariah Carey, “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé, and “Umbrella” by Rihanna.[19]
Through his business ventures, Jay-Z became the first hip-hop billionaire in 2019.[20][21] In 1999, he co-founded the clothing retailer Rocawear[22] and later founded the 40/40 Club, a luxury bar chain, in 2003. As both grew into multi-million-dollar businesses, he launched Roc Nation, a multi-disciplinary entertainment agency in 2008. In 2015, he acquired the technology company Aspiro and led the expansion of Tidal, the company’s media streaming service.[23][24][25] As of 2024, he is the wealthiest musical artist in the world with a net worth of US$2.5 billion.[26]
One of the world’s best-selling music artists with 140 million records sold, Jay-Z has won 24 Grammy Awards, the tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Kanye West.[27] He has been awarded the NAACP’s President’s Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Sports Emmy Award, and been nominated for a Tony Award. Ranked by Billboard and Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest artists of all time,[28][29] Jay-Z was the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame[30] and the first solo living rapper inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.[8] As of 2024, Jay-Z is facing a civil lawsuit in the Southern District of New York where is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl along with Sean “Diddy” Combs.[31]
