Jay-Z appeared Monday at the Hollywood premiere of “Mufasa: The Lion King,” alongside his wife and their daughter one day after the rapper, born Shawn Carter, was named in a refiled civil lawsuit that accuses him of raping a child.
When the suit was first filed in October, the unnamed plaintiff only identified music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging that Combs and another “male celebrity” raped her in the presence of an unnamed female celebrity in 2000 when the plaintiff was 13.
The amended complaint now accuses Carter by name of being the other male celebrity.
Carter forcefully denied the allegation in a statement on Sunday, calling the plaintiff’s attorney Tony Buzbee a “fraud” and who was seeking to “blackmail” him. Carter also demanded Buzbee refile the civil suit as a criminal complaint, writing, “Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?”
“My only heartbreak is for my family,” Carter said in his 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.”
The billionaire rapper appeared with his family on Monday at the premiere of “Mufasa,” a prequel to 2019’s remake of “The Lion King,” in which his wife and daughter were cast as voice actors. Sources told the New York Post that Carter wasn’t planning to attend the premiere, but decided otherwise after Sunday’s allegation surfaced.
LISA O'CONNOR/AFP/Getty Images
Carter’s accuser alleges that he and Combs raped her at an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Carter filed a motion Monday, obtained by ABC News, to deny the plaintiff’s request to remain anonymous.
It read: “Mr. Carter deserves to know the identity of the person who is effectively accusing him ― in sensationalized, publicity-hunting fashion ― of criminal conduct, demanding massive financial compensation, and tarnishing a reputation earned over decades.”
In October, Buzbee said he represents more than 120 accusers in the case against Combs, who was arrested in September on charges including sex trafficking and was denied bail for a third time by a New York City judge in November.
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