Less than 24 hours after Jay-Z was publicly named in a lawsuit accusing the “99 Problems” rapper and the currently incarcerated Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping a 13-year-old over 20 years ago, a flurry of filings Monday finds the musician/entrepreneur – born Shawn Carter – wanting the whole thing tossed in the legal dumpster or brought out into the light of day.
“Defendant is respectfully seeking either dismissal of the allegations or disclosure of the Plaintiff’s identity,” reads a memorandum accompanying a motion filed in federal court in New York this morning from Jay-Z’s high powered Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan attorney Alex Spiro. “Fair is fair.”
The horrific alleged attack on the then teen Jane Doe is said to have occurred on September 7, 2000 during one of Diddy’s drug fueled so-called “freak offs” just after that year’s MTV VMAs. A graphic October 20 filed lawsuit named Combs for the rape, but merely mentioned a male Celebrity A and a still unnamed Celebrity B who also participated.
That alleged Celebrity A has now been named as Jay-Z/Shawn Carter.
“Mr. Carter deserves to know the identity of the person who is effectively accusing him – in sensationalized, publicity-hunting fashion – of criminal conduct, demanding massive financial compensation, and tarnishing a reputation earned over decades,” Spiro’s memo states. “This Court has recognized the nearly identical claims brought by other Plaintiffs represented by Attorney Buzbee do not meet the criteria to proceed anonymously. Here, the balance of the equities afford all the more reason why this Plaintiff should be proceeding under her true name, if she wishes to proceed at all.”
First put before the court by lawyer Tony Buzbee back on October 20 under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act as one of the dozens of civil cases the Texan has filed against Combs, the documents initially only identified a “Celebrity A” and a “Celebrity B” who joined the Bad Boy Records founder in a brutal and repeated sexual assault on a minor. On November 18, an Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous “celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles” went after the hyperbolic Buzbee for extortion in LA Superior Court. On December 8, the Houston-based lawyer refiled his initial suit with Beyoncé’s better half now in the sort of spotlight nobody ever ever wants.
In a long statement not long after that refiling, the usually media-reticent Jay-Z admitted he was the celebrity in the LASC case, and personally wrote of the amended civil complaint: “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?”
Throwing some Brooklyn street “strict codes and honor” out there, there renowned wordsmith multi-Grammy winner added: “This lawyer, who I have done a bit of research on, seems to have a pattern of these type of theatrics! 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.”
Buzbee swung back on social media yesterday, saying that long time Combs pal Jay-Z “has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff.”
Failing in late November in his third attempt at getting a proposed $50 million bail approved, Combs is set to go on trial for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution on May 5, 2025. Behind bars at Brooklyn’s notoriously harsh Metropolitan Detention Centre since his arrest in a NYC hotel lobby on September 16, the 55-year-old Combs, who has entered a not guilty plea, faces life in prison if found guilty by a jury of his peers.
No date has been set yet for Jay-Z’s request for a hearing on his motion to dismiss the rape case or have Jane Doe unmasked. For those who recognize the name of the billionaire rapper’s main attorney, Alex Spiro has represented a number of big names over the years, including recently Alec Baldwin in his now dismissed involuntary manslaughter case related to the 2021 fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
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