Jay-Z has filed a defamation lawsuit against lawyers Tony Buzbee, David Fortney and an anonymous woman, who withdrew her lawsuit against the rapper after accusing him of raping her when she was 13 at a party in 2000.
The rapper’s lawsuit, filed in Alabama, comes after the unidentified woman added Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, to a lawsuit she had filed against Diddy in Manhattan federal court in December, alleging she was attacked by the rappers after Diddy’s limo driver offered her a ride to an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty.
In February, the woman’s lawyers submitted a court document announcing the voluntary dismissal but did not include any reasons or explanation for the withdrawal. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, which means the plaintiff cannot refile the same complaint in court.
Jay-Z’s defamation lawsuit states that the initial allegations against him were “false and malicious claims” and were “strategically and tactically calculated and timed to inflict maximum pain and suffering on Mr. Carter.”
His legal team is accusing Jane Doe and her legal team of extortion and being “soullessly motivated by greed.”
Jay-Z claims the allegations were “malevolent efforts to assassinate the impeccable and lifetime-earned character” of his professional life.
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His lawsuit, viewed by New York Times, claims that Doe “voluntarily admitted directly to” his representatives that no assault occurred, and accuses Buzbee of coercing her into pursuing the allegations “to obtain a payday.” (Global News has not independently viewed the legal documents.)
In the filing, Jay-Z’s legal team notes that he “does not wish to expose his malicious and wrongful accuser’s identity in his complaint and seeks to maintain her anonymity as ‘Doe.’”
Jay-Z’s suit also accuses Doe and her lawyers of malicious prosecution, abuse of process and civil conspiracy.
In a statement to Variety, Buzbee responded to Jay-Z’s defamation lawsuit, saying, “This Alabama filing asserts the same claims as another case. Jay Z’s team pieced together and filed in Los Angeles. Like the case in LA, this new case in Alabama also has no legal merit.”
“Shawn Carter’s investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story. She hasn’t, and won’t. Instead she has stated repeatedly she stands by her claims,” Buzbee continued. “These same group of investigators have been caught on tape offering to pay people to sue me and my firm.”
“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,” he added.
“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,” Buzbee’s statement concluded.
In February, Jay-Z, who vehemently denied the claims of Doe and tried to get extracted from the lawsuit, called the woman’s decision to withdraw her claim “a victory” and said the “fictional tale” she and her lawyers created was “laughable.”
“The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed,” he said in a statement posted on social media. “This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere.”
“The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed,” Jay-Z added. “The 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The system has failed.”
Jay-Z said that the court “must protect victims” but the court also has the “same ethical responsibility” to “protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence.”
“May the truth prevail for all victims and those falsely accused equally,” he concluded.
Buzbee’s firm, which has set up a 1-800 number for accusers, has filed a wave of lawsuits against Diddy. Buzbee’s lawsuits allege that many of the people he represents were abused at parties in New York, California and Florida, where individuals claim they were given drinks laced with drugs.
Diddy has denied all allegations against him.
— With files from The Associated Press
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