Lawyers representing Jay-Z are calling for an emergency hearing and demanding that the woman who accused him alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in a sexual assault lawsuit be publicly identified.
The attorneys representing the rapper and mogul, whose given name is Shawn Carter, responded to the woman’s amended complaint in a letter filed to the judge on Monday, which was reviewed by HuffPost. They said that Carter is innocent and called the allegations filed by the woman, who is only identified in court records as Jane Doe, a “shakedown.”
The woman’s lawsuit alleges that both Carter and Combs sexually abused her when she was 13 years old at a Manhattan house party after the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. Lawyers representing the woman wrote their client was drugged at a party, raped by Carter and assaulted by Combs in front of an unnamed female celebrity.
Carter has responded to the accusations against him by calling out Tony Buzbee, the attorney who is representing the woman and more than a hundred other people who have accused Combs of sexual misconduct. (Combs has denied any wrongdoing in the multiple civil suits and ongoing criminal case against him.)
“My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a ‘lawyer’ named Tony Buzbee,” Carter said in a statement posted to the social media account of Roc Nation, his entertainment company. “What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle.”
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In an email to HuffPost on Tuesday, Buzbee called Carter’s assertions “bogus and laughable,” adding that sending a demand letter is common in similar cases.
“Our firm sent a standard demand letter seeking a mediation on behalf of a woman who alleges Jay-Z sexually assaulted her as a minor,” Buzbee wrote. “The letter was vetted and approved by our client, whose preference was to attempt resolution short of filing a lawsuit.”
But instead of mediation, Jay-Z took legal action of his own, anonymously filing a lawsuit in November accusing Buzbee and his firm of extortion.
In a court filing, Carter’s attorney, Alex Spiro, confirmed that the John Doe behind the extortion lawsuit was Carter. He alleged Buzbee “orchestrated a months-long press campaign” aimed at amplifying false narratives in the media to damage Carter’s reputation.
In a follow-up letter filed on Tuesday, Spiro reiterated his charge that Buzbee “engaged in a campaign to leverage unfounded and heinous allegations against celebrities to secure large settlements.”
“He seeks neither justice nor peace for his victims — he seeks only to benefit himself,” Spiro wrote.
But according to Buzbee, Carter and his lawyer are attempting to focus the public’s attention on him personally, to distract from the woman’s sexual assault allegations.
“We intend to address all of these issues with the court in due course,” Buzbee wrote. “We will not be bullied or intimidated by these shenanigans. And our clients won’t be silenced.”
In his motions to the court this week, Spiro urged the judge to decline the woman’s request to proceed with her lawsuit anonymously, stating it is “improper and unsupported by law.”
“It is critical that Plaintiff’s identity be disclosed so that Mr. Carter can investigate and respond to the claims fully and fairly,” Spiro said in his motion on Tuesday.
Combs has made similar demands of at least one of his accusers.
A Jane Doe who alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that she was drugged and gang-raped by Combs and his associates in 2003, when she was 17 years old, was ordered by the court to reveal her name in order to continue litigation. The woman amended her lawsuit last week, identifying herself as Anna Kane, the ex-wife of former Edmonton Oilers player Evander Kane.
In a statement to HuffPost, Kane said she was disappointed but determined to continue her lawsuit.
“I had hoped to use a pseudonym in pursuing justice for what happened to me as a teenager. Defendants’ demand that I use my name was an attempt to intimidate me, but I am not intimidated,” Kane said. “I am prepared to proceed and hold accountable those who have harmed me.”
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