Jay-Z is taking legal action against the unnamed woman who accused him of rape.
The 55-year-old hip-hop icon, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, has filed a complaint targeting both the “Jane Doe” who accused him and Diddy of rape, as well as her attorneys Tony Buzbee and David Fortney.
According to documents reviewed by TMZ, Jay-Z described an “evil conspiracy” in which the accuser reportedly admitted to Buzbee that the assault never occurred, yet the lawyer “pushed her to go forward with the false narrative of the assault” to “leverage a maximum payday.”
The lawsuit further claims that Buzbee continued trying to extort Jay-Z by falsely claiming the rapper’s team harassed the accuser after she dropped the case.
Jay’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. He also asked for permission to sue her under the pseudonym Jane Doe because of her alleged “history of mental illness and medical vulnerabilities, including instances of self-harm.” The rapper is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.
In a statement provided to legal affairs journalist Meghan Cuniff, Buzbee dismissed the lawsuit, claiming it has “no legal merit.”
“This new case alleges the same claims as the other one they pieced together and filed in Los Angeles. Like the one in LA, this new case in Alabama also has no legal merit,” Buzbee stated Monday. “Shawn Carter’s investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story. She hasn’t, and won’t.”
“Instead she has stated repeatedly she stands by her claims. These same group of investigators have been caught on tape offering to pay people to sue me and my firm,” he added. “After speaking with Jane Doe today, it’s clear to me that the quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit are completely made up, or they spoke to someone who isn’t Jane Doe.”
“This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course. We won’t be bullied or intimidated by frivolous cases,” Buzbee concluded.
According to TMZ, the Jane Doe accuser claims Jay-Z is putting pressure on her to take back her allegations. She says two people connected to the rapper’s legal team approached her outside her home, cornered her, and tried making her sign a statement saying her claims were false. She refused. She also claims investigators reached out to her parents, asking about Tony Buzbee and the rape allegations.
The woman dropped her lawsuit last month with prejudice, which means she can’t file it again.
Last December, the accuser claimed she was taken to a party after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards by a limousine driver connected to Sean “Diddy” Combs, given a drink that made her feel “woozy,” and then assaulted by both men.
Initially filed in October, the lawsuit only named Diddy but was later updated to include Jay-Z, according to NBC News.
Jay-Z denied the lawsuit’s allegations, calling the claims “heinous” and Buzbee a “deplorable human” in a detailed statement released at the time.
Diddy has denied all accusations and is currently behind bars facing racketeering and sex trafficking charges, with his trial scheduled for May 5.
