Jay-Z seeks to sanction rape accuser's lawyer as legal fight escalates

Rap mogul Jay-Z on Wednesday asked a judge in Manhattan to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him and fellow rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl during a party in 2000 and to sanction the Houston attorney who filed the case.

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Jay-Z accused the lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of multiple inaccuracies in the complaint, and of failing to investigate the allegations before filing the lawsuit.

Buzbee’s lawsuit, which initially named just Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and later added Jay-Z as a defendant, alleged that the unnamed girl was drugged and raped by both men at a party hosted by Combs following the MTV Music Awards in 2000. Combs and Jay-Z have denied the allegations.

Monday’s filing from Jay-Z’s lawyer Alex Spiro at law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said NBC News had determined that a number of claims in the Buzbee case ‘were either false or highly doubtful’.

Buzbee’s client, identified only as Jane Doe, claimed that her father picked her up after the alleged assault, but her father does not remember doing so, Jay-Z said, citing a December NBC News report.

These inaccuracies cast ‘considerable doubt on the plaintiff’s allegation that Mr. Carter raped her, which he did not’, Jay-Z told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.

In addition to dismissing the claims, the filing asked Torres to punish Buzbee by imposing a monetary sanction, such as forcing him to cover Jay-Z’s legal fees.

Also Read: Woman accusing Jay-Z, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of rape can proceed anonymously: Judge

Buzbee in an email to Reuters said the filing ‘reeks of desperation’. He accused Spiro and his team of trying to ‘bully or intimidate counsel by filing meritless and frivolous pleadings full of lies and half-truths’.

A Quinn Emanuel spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The filing marks the latest salvo in an escalating legal battle between Buzbee, Jay-Z and his legal team.

In November, Quinn Emanuel sued Buzbee and the Buzbee Law Firm on the rapper’s behalf in Los Angeles, alleging Buzbee threatened to lodge ‘wildly false horrific allegations’ in order to “extort exorbitant sums.”

Buzbee countered by suing Quinn Emanuel in Harris County, Texas, last month, accusing the firm of harassing his colleagues, his clients and his family. Quinn Emanuel has denied the allegations.

Buzbee’s firm has also brought two lawsuits against Quinn Emanuel and Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation, alleging they encouraged the Buzbee Law Firm’s former clients to bring ‘frivolous’ cases against it. Quinn Emanuel and Roc Nation have not formally responded to the lawsuit.