JAY-Z‘s lawyers are suing Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the Jane Doe who accused the artist and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her in 2000, alleging that Buzbee attempted to extort an “exorbitant sum of money” from Hov through false assault claims.
The Guardian reports that in the weeks prior to Jane Doe naming JAY-Z in the case, Buzbee allegedly sent the artist a letter threatening to “immediately file” a “public lawsuit” unless he agreed to settle it financially during mediation. Hov supposedly received two letters from two different clients, but only one has been filed so far. “Plaintiff presently faces a gun to his head,” the suit read.
It continued, “Either repeatedly pay an exorbitant sum of money to stop defendants from the wide publication of wildly false allegations of sexual assault that would subject Plaintiff to opprobrium and irreparably harm plaintiff’s reputation, family, career and livelihood, or else face the threat of an untold number of civil suits and financial and personal ruin.”
In addition to this suit, which was filed in mid-November, JAY’s legal team just filed an affidavit accusing Buzbee of attempting to pressure an anonymous woman into naming Diddy in an unrelated sex trafficking case. Variety reports that the woman contacted Hov’s attorneys to tell her story, claiming that Buzbee Law Firm asked her about her meeting with Diddy and also compelled her into pursuing a civil case anonymously despite it being against her wishes. Buzbee and his team also allegedly discouraged her from bringing her case to law enforcement.
After several weeks of no contact, the woman was finally able to get in touch with someone from Buzbee Law Firm but felt like she was being “forced to lie,” adding, “she felt directed and coached by Mr. Buzbee’s firm to say that someone held her down and put drugs in her mouth when that was not her experience.” When she refused to follow the legal direction Buzbee’s firm was giving her, they dropped her as a client. She brought her story to light “because she felt the conduct by Mr. Buzbee’s firm — specifically, to encourage lies — discredits those who are legitimate victims,” and is speaking under the condition of anonymity out of fear of revenge from Buzbee and his firm.
Hov has denied all allegations and is asking to dismiss the rape case that supposedly took place in 2000. His attorney, Alex Spiro, asked a judge to speed up the hearing on the motion to dismiss the case “due to the highly sensitive nature of this matter and the intense media scrutiny,” and went on to describe the lawsuit as “a shakedown. [JAY-Z] is not mentioned, referenced, or implicated in any way in the criminal investigation of Mr. Combs. He is neither a target nor a person of interest in that investigation.”
Spiro also asserted that the Jane Doe’s identity should be revealed as there is no legitimate reason for her anonymity, “[JAY-Z] deserves to know the identity of the person who is effectively accusing him – in sensationalised, publicity-hunting fashion – of criminal conduct, demanding massive financial compensation, and tarnishing a reputation earned over decades.”
