Jay-Z, Tony Buzbee. Getty Images(2)
Jay-Z and attorney Tony Buzbee’s current legal drama is just getting started.
On Sunday, December 8, news broke that Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) was named alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in a civil lawsuit filed by Buzbee. According to NBC News, the legal paperwork accused Jay-Z, 55, of allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Combs, also 55. The anonymous accuser, who has been referred to as “Jane Doe,” claimed the assault occurred at an afterparty for the MTV Music Video Awards in 2000.
Jay-Z responded to the lawsuit with a lengthy, emotional statement, in which he denied the allegations. He added that his “only heartbreak is for my family.” (The rapper shares daughter Blue Ivy, 12, and twins Rumi and Sir, both 8, with wife Beyoncé.)
“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,” Jay-Z said in a statement to Us Weekly. “I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
In addition to denying the allegations, Jay-Z also had a message that was directed at Buzbee.
“You seem to exploit people for personal gain,” Jay-Z wrote. “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.”
Keep scrolling for a break down on everything to know about Jay-Z and Buzbee’s battle:
Who Is Tony Buzbee?
Buzbee gained public recognition earlier this year after he started representing 120 clients who claimed they were victims of Diddy. Diddy has vehemently denied all the allegations. On October 7, Buzbee teased that more celebrities will be sued along with Diddy, and claimed demand letters have already been sent out.
“I think I’ll let the lawsuits speak for themselves,” the Texas-based lawyer told TMZ Live at the time. “Everyone’s focused on what other celebrities were involved, who’s going to be named, who’s going to be outed — I don’t expect that to happen this week. I’m hoping to file some lawsuits this week.”
Why Was Tony Buzbee Sued?
Since Diddy’s September arrest Buzbee has filed more than a dozen lawsuits against Diddy. (Diddy has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail until his May 2025 trial.)
However, on November 18, an unnamed male celebrity filed a lawsuit against Buzbee. The paperwork accused the attorney and his firm of “shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him or else publicly file wildly false horrific allegations against him,” according to court documents obtained by CNN at the time.
According to the anonymous star, Buzbee allegedly sent him a demand letter to bolster his cases against Diddy. The filing claimed that Buzbee’s firm “threatened to unleash entirely fabricated and salacious allegations of sexual assault” that include “multiple instances of rape of a minor, both male and female” if their client “refuses to comply with their demands.”
The New York Times reported on December 9 that Jay-Z was the anonymous celebrity who sued Buzbee.
How Did Jay-Z Get Involved?
While Jay-Z and Diddy have been friends over the years, the Roc Nation founder became involved in Diddy’s legal drama recently. On December 8, Buzbee refiled an October lawsuit to include Jay-Z. In the initial paperwork only named Diddy at the time. According to docs obtained by NBC News, both Jay-Z and Diddy were accused of rape by a then 13-year-old girl.
Both Jay-Z and Diddy have denied the allegations. Diddy’s lawyers released a statement on behalf of the music mogul.
“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,” Diddy’s attorneys said in a statement to Us. “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.”
What Has Jay-Z Said About Tony Buzbee?
After news broke of the lawsuit, Jay-Z publicly slammed Buzbee and the lawsuit.
“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 said in a statement to Us denying the allegations. “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!!”
The statement continued: “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? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
Jay-Z added that the allegations were “heinous” and noted that he had done some digging on Buzbee.
“This lawyer, who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have a pattern of these type of theatrics!” Jay-Z wrote. “I have no idea how you have come to be such a deplorable human Mr. Buzbee, but I promise you I have seen your kind many times over. I’m more than prepared to deal with your type. You claim to be a marine?! Marines are known for their valor, you have neither honor nor dignity.”
Has Jane Doe Weighed In?
After Jay-Z denied the allegations and alleged the lawsuit was a “blackmail” attempt, Jane Doe said via Buzbee that she “never demanded a penny” from the musician.
“Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. He even filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him,” Buzbee told TMZ in a December 8 statement accusing Jay-Z of being the anonymous male celebrity who filed a lawsuit against him last month.
Buzzbee continued: “Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”
What Legal Action Has Jay-Z Taken?
Us confirmed on December 9 that Jay-Z filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit accusing him of rape. According to docs obtained by Us, Jay-Z asked for a dismissal due to “lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to the plaintiff’s lack of standing.”
“Plaintiff has provided no evidence — no affidavit, declaration, or specific factual support — to establish the kind of severe harm necessary to justify pseudonymity,” the document read.
Has Tony Buzbee Responded?
On December 10, Buzbee filed a motion to have the Jane Doe case move forward anonymously. However, Jay-Z’s legal team objected and subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the request.
“Mr. Carter is entirely innocent. This is a shakedown. He is not mentioned, referenced, or implicated in any way in the criminal investigation of Mr. Combs,” the letter read. “He is neither a target nor a person of interest in that investigation.”
Jay-Z’s Legal Team Outlines Why Buzbee’s Lawsuit Should Be Dismissed
Tony Buzbee Brandon Bell/Getty Images
After filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him, Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro filed a separate motion to dismiss the case based on Buzbee’s alleged misconduct.
According to the December 18 filing obtained by Us, Spiro alleged that Buzbee “resorted to a campaign of extortion” against Jay-Z when he filed the sexual assault lawsuit against him in October. The attorney claimed that Buzbee chose not to initially list Jay-Z’s name and threatened “to go public with false and outrageous allegations” about his client and release his name if he didn’t hand over a sum of money.
Spiro also alleged that Buzbee “admitted to NBC that his firm failed to conduct any investigation into the merits” of Jane Doe’s allegations of rape against Jay-Z and Diddy before moving forward with the lawsuit. Jay-Z’s team argued that lack of research “violated Rule 11.”
He alleged that Buzbee was “caught red-handed violating Rule 11’s ongoing duty on lawyers ‘to conduct a reasonable inquiry into the facts and the law before filing.’”
The federal rule requires that all “pleadings, motions, and other papers filed in federal court” be signed by the attorney or party themselves and must “certify that the document is well-grounded in fact” and supported by law, per the United States District Court Northern District of Illinois’ official website.
In Spiro’s filing on behalf of Jay-Z, he also asked a judge to order Buzbee’s team to “preserve” and produce all evidence in this case. Jay-Z’s attorneys claimed that it should be “assumed” that Buzbee would go to “extraordinary lengths” to cover up his alleged “ethical violations.”
“There is accordingly a significant risk that Buzbee will seek to destroy documents or other evidence that would demonstrate that he knew or should have known that the allegations in the complaint were false,” the doc reads.
Buzbee Sues Roc Nation and Jay-Z’s Legal Team
Buzbee fired back in a legal letter that he has filed a lawsuit in Texas detailing how Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation and his legal team, Quinn Emanuel Urquart & Sullivan, have allegedly bribed his clients to file suits against his firm, threatened former clients and impersonated state officials.
“Outside of the courtroom, Mr. Carter has employed tactics of intimidation and harassment even more extreme, tortious, and quite possibly illegal,” Buzbee wrote in a December 20 letter while objecting to Jay-Z’s legal team filing a motion to strike and motion for sanctions. “My firm recently filed a lawsuit in Harris County, Texas, that details how Mr. Carter’s company (Roc Nation) and his counsel have bribed my clients to file lawsuits against my firm, threatened former clients, impersonated state officials, and engaged in other behavior far beyond the pale of acceptable conduct. Their tactics won’t work, and they will be addressed in more detail in connection with the parties’ briefing on Plaintiff’s anonymity.”
In the Texas lawsuit, in which Buzbee’s firm seeks $25 million in damages, he alleges that people claiming to be “researchers,” “investigators” and “attorneys” have all been part of a team of private investigators sent to “intimidate, harass, malign and threaten” the Buzbee Law Firm’s former and current employees, their family members (including Buzbee’s daughter) and former and current clients.
In docs filed on December 24, a judge denied Buzbee’s request for a temporary restraining order.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
