Jay-Z is suing Tony Buzbee, the lawyer of his accuser who alleges he sexually assaulted her when she was 13-years previous, for defamation.
On December 9, it was reported that Jay-Z – actual identify Shawn Carter – was named in a lawsuit which alleges the rape of a 13-year-old lady in 2000 by the rapper and Diddy, actual identify Sean Combs.
In an announcement issued by way of Roc Nation, Carter known as the allegations “heinous in nature” and dismissed them as a “blackmail try”. He implored lawyer Tony Buzbee to file the lawsuit as a “felony grievance, not a civil one”.
The rapper then filed a courtroom letter in search of the dismissal of the lawsuit and the id reveal of the accuser, whereas sustaining his innocence.
Now, Carter’s authorized staff has turned their consideration to Buzbee, a nationwide trial lawyer who claims to characterize greater than 120 alleged victims. Buzbee has additionally mentioned he’ll go after different “high-profile” celebrities who he says are concerned or complicit within the alleged abuse.
Carter is claiming that Buzbee’s demand letter solely gave a two-week window to decide to a “confidential mediation” concerning an alleged female and male sufferer. Each have claimed they had been drugged and raped after they had been minors.
Buzbee’s letter to Carter allegedly reads: “It has been my expertise that when somebody does this to a sufferer as soon as, the chances are high that they’ve achieved the identical or comparable issues to others.”
Attorneys for the rapper alleged that Buzbee’s purchasers had been in search of “‘one thing of substance’ by means of a settlement”, and that if Carter couldn’t attain an settlement, Buzbee would “take a distinct course.”
“In brief, Defendants positioned a gun to Mr. Carter’s head,” the lawsuit claims. “They had been demanding that Mr. Carter both: (a) pay ‘one thing of substance’ to cease Defendants from making public the wildly false allegations of sexual assault that will topic Mr. Carter to opprobrium and irreparably hurt his popularity, household, profession and livelihood, or (2) endure that monetary and private destroy. Defendants’ statements and correspondence made clear the fast and in depth risk of publicity if Mr. Carter didn’t pay.”
The rapper’s legal professionals declare that Buzbee started defaming Carter in October, the place they accuse him of a “media campaign to threaten and intimidate anybody who might have ever come into contact with Combs.” The lawsuit consists of screenshots of Buzbee’s social media exercise, which claims to point out him liking a publish that speculated Carter was concerned in Combs’ alleged sexual assaults.
Carter’s attorneys additionally reference a TMZ article from December 10 the place Buzbee allegedly indicated that his shopper would possibly file a felony grievance in opposition to Carter in New York. “These had been no idle feedback,” the lawsuit alleges. “Buzbee’s phrases had been rigorously calculated to depart the general public with one unavoidable conclusion: that Mr. Carter was going through imminent felony prosecution for rape. That is defamation per se as a result of he instantly and falsely accused Mr. Carter of committing the horrendous felony act of rape.”
Buzbee has known as the declare “patently frivolous” and added that it “will probably be dismissed,” per Rolling Stone. “I’ve by no means mentioned a phrase about him. That is simply one other try to bully and intimidate me. It simply received’t work.”
The brand new defamation declare from Carter follows Buzbee submitting a lawsuit in opposition to Roc Nation earlier this week, the place he accused the corporate and its legal professionals of utilizing “shadowy operatives” and promising to pay Buzbee’s former purchasers to illegally entice them into submitting “frivolous” claims in opposition to him.
Roc Nation has denied that accusation, saying the lawsuit is “baloney” and a “pathetic try to distract and deflect consideration” from the case. “Mr. Carter will not be somebody who could be intimidated,” Carter’s legal professionals mentioned on Friday (December 20), including: “He filed this lawsuit to pre-emptively name out Buzbee for the miscreant that he’s.”
Earlier this month, the unnamed accuser, identified in courtroom paperwork as Jane Doe, admitted to creating “some errors” in her recollection of that night time.
In a video interview with NBC Information, the lady, now 35, recalled the alleged occasions of the night time from her reminiscence as outlined within the lawsuit.
“We’ll proceed to vet her claims and acquire corroborating knowledge to the extent it exists. As a result of now we have interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to undergo a polygraph. I’ve by no means had a shopper counsel that earlier than.”
He added that “we at all times do out finest to vet every declare made, simply as we did on this case,” whereas claiming that the entire ordeal has been “extraordinarily distressing” for the lady, who has allegedly “skilled seizures” and has sought “medical therapy because of the stress.”
In an announcement, Carter informed NBC Information that the “incident didn’t occur” however Buzbee “filed it in courtroom and doubled down within the press.”
“True Justice is coming. We struggle FROM victory, not FOR victory,” the rapper continued. “This was over earlier than it started. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t understand it but, however, quickly.”
The accuser is in search of unspecified damages, with the lawsuit filed beneath New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Safety Act.
Earlier this month, the NFL commented on the state of its relationship with Jay-Z and Roc Nation amid the allegations, stating that their “relationship’s not altering” with Roc Nation.
