American rap star Jay-Z has initiated legal action against an anonymous woman and her attorneys, Tony Buzbee and David Fortney, alleging defamation and extortion following previously withdrawn rape accusations.
In October 2024, the woman, referred to as Jane Doe, accused Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting her at an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards when she was 13, BBC reports.
Both artists denied the allegations, and the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in February 2025.
Jay-Z’s defamation suit, filed in a federal court in Alabama, asserts that Doe admitted to his representatives that the assault did not occur and that her lawyers coerced her into making the false claims to extract a substantial financial settlement.
The lawsuit describes these actions as “malevolent efforts to assassinate the impeccable and lifetime-earned character” of Jay-Z.
The legal action also highlights inconsistencies in Doe’s account, including her claim of interacting with musicians who were reportedly elsewhere at the time.
Additionally, her father has stated he does not recall events she described following the alleged assault.
In response, Buzbee maintains that the new lawsuit “has no legal merit” and asserts that Doe continues to stand by her allegations.
He further claims that Jay-Z’s investigators have attempted to intimidate Doe into recanting her story, stating, “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.”
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, contends that the false allegations have caused significant personal and professional harm, including the loss of business contracts worth approximately $20 million annually for his company, Roc Nation, and emotional distress to his family, particularly his children.
