Lawyer accusing Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of rape claims he’s being harassed: “We will not be bullied”
Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs were named in a lawsuit on December 8th, with the two rappers accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000. The anonymous woman says the incident took place after the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, alleging Carter removed her clothes, held her down and raped her while Combs and a female celebrity watched before Combs also raped her as Carter watched.
Carter quickly denied the allegations in a statement issued on his company Roc Nation’s social media account. “These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!!” he wrote. “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.”
The rapper continued: “You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same. I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children.”
He added, “My only heartbreak is for my family. 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. I mourn yet another loss of innocence.”
Carter’s lawyers have accused the alleged victim’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, of trying to “extort exorbitant sums” from him through false assault claims. Buzbee took to X (formerly Twitter) on December 10th to respond to Carter’s allegations that he tried to extort and blackmail him, calling his assertions “bogus and laughable” in a statement.
“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,” he wrote. “The letter was vetted and approved by our client, whose preference was to attempt resolution short of filing a lawsuit. This approach is common in these types of cases.”
He continued, “What you are seeing played out now is a coordinated and desperate effort to focus the public’s attention on me personally to avoid attention on the allegations being made by my clients. This effort has included harassing my family and colleagues and even offering former clients money to sue me—which is illegal.”
Buzbee went on to claim that Carter was using the media to attack him while ignoring the allegations being made by the alleged victim, pointing out that a basic demand letter is all that was served. “We intend to address all of these issues with the court in due course,” he said. “Let me be clear: We will not be bullied or intimidated by these shenanigans. And our clients won’t be silenced.”
Combs’ legal representatives also dismissed the suits as publicity stunts and maintained that the “truth” about their client will “prevail” in court, claiming he has “never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor.”