Jay-Z is taking legal action against an anonymous woman who previously filed and later withdrew a lawsuit alleging that the rapper, along with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, had sexually assaulted her when she was 13 at an afterparty for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. In his lawsuit, filed in Alabama, Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter) claims that the woman and her legal team knowingly pursued a false account of the incident.
Lawyers representing Jay-Z assert that the woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, had admitted falsifying her allegations directly to Jay-Z’s representatives. The filing names both the woman and her attorneys, Tony Buzbee and David Fortney.
Megan Rose Dannemiller, a lawyer for Jay-Z, has stated that the woman had voluntarily confessed to fabricating her story during an interview with NBC News. She had initially claimed her father picked her up after the alleged assault, which he did not recall, and also mentioned a conversation with a musician who was not present at the time, as he was on tour elsewhere. Jay-Z’s legal team argues that these misrepresentations constitute defamation and maliciously filing a law enforcement report, resulting in reputational damage and significant financial losses estimated to be over $20m for Jay-Z’s company, Roc Nation.
Buzbee has responded to the allegations, claiming Jay-Z’s assertions have no legal basis. “The quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit are either completely made up or spoken to someone who isn’t Jane Doe,” he argued, adding that they would not be intimidated by what he called “frivolous cases.”
There is antecedent tension in this legal battle. Jay-Z previously sued Buzbee, accusing the attorney of seeking a confidential mediation that he considered to be extortionate. Jane Doe has also claimed intimidation by people claiming to be investigators working with Jay-Z’s lawyer, resulting in her withdrawal of the initial lawsuit out of fear of public attacks.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/04/jay-z-sues-woman-over-allegedly-falsifying-allegation-sean-diddy-combs
