Jay-Z responds to lawsuit that accuses him of raping a 13-year-old girl

Rapper Jay-Z responded Sunday to a civil lawsuit accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl.

“My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a ‘lawyer’ named Tony Buzbee. What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” the music artist and producer said in a statement through his publicity team.

The lawsuit, originally filed in October, was amended on Sunday to include Shawn Carter (Jay-Z’s real name), in addition to defendants Sean “Diddy” Combs and his companies, including Bad Boy Records, Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Productions, and others.

“No sir, it had the opposite effect!” Jay-Z continued in his statement. “It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”

Carter went on to invoke his wife Beyoncé and their three children, including eldest Blue Ivy, writing, “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people. I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”

The lawsuit accuses Carter and Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty as an unidentified female celebrity watched in 2000. According to the alleged victim, she went to the VMAs without a ticket in hopes of making it into the show, but unable to do so, ended up speaking to a limo driver for Combs. He told her of the afterparty, allegedly saying the young girl “fit what Diddy was looking for.”

At the party, the plaintiff claims she drank something from a waiter that made her feel “woozy,” after which she went to a room to lie down. She then alleges Combs, Carter, and a third assailant burst into the room, with Combs supposedly saying, “You are ready to party!” The alleged victim claims Carter held her down and raped her while Combs and the third celebrity watched, and then Combs raped her as Carter and the woman watched.

The plaintiff claims she fought off Combs, who seemed surprised, grabbed her clothes, and ran out the house down to a gas station she had recalled seeing on the way to the party. There, she called her father to come pick her up. The accuser is seeking unspecified damages.

Combs’ legal team denied the allegations in an emailed statement to Entertainment Weekly, writing, “This amended complaint and the recent extortion lawsuit against Mr. Buzbee exposes his barrage of lawsuits against Mr. Combs for what they are: shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs. As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor.” 

Combs is currently incarcerated after being charged with with racketeering, sex trafficking, and other offenses. His trial date is set for May 5.

Anthony Buzbee, the lawyer filing the charges against both Combs and Carter, said in a statement to EW, “The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court.”

In his statement, Jay-Z urged Buzbee to file a criminal complaint, writing, “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?”

His statement continued:

“These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”

“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….”

“My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.”

“You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all “celebrities” are the same. I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”

“I look forward to showing you just how different I am.”

Buzbee later responded to Jay-Z’s statement with a comment on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Regarding the Jay Z case and his efforts to silence my clients: Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. He filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him. Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”

Updated: This post was updated after publication with Buzbee’s Twitter statement.