Several days ago, Jay-Z was sued for raping a minor alongside Sean Combs. The assault reportedly happened in 2000. Before the lawsuit was amended to include Jay-Z’s name, Jay-Z had already sued the lawyer, Tony Buzbee, claiming that Buzbee was trying to blackmail him or extort him. Jay-Z’s perspective/argument is that this is all a shakedown from an overzealous lawyer. The whole thing has turned into a huge mess with the gossip blogs, social media, the fans and everything else. I wish more people were in a “let’s see how this plays out in court” mode. But if Jay-Z has his way, this case will never make it to court. His lawyers have already filed a peculiar motion.
Jay-Z is pushing for the woman who is accusing him of rape to be required to reveal her identity or for her lawsuit against him to be dismissed. An attorney for Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, made the request Monday, one day after an anonymous accuser alleged Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs drugged and raped her in 2000 when she was 13 years old.
“Mr. Carter should not have to defend himself in the brightest of spotlights against an accuser who hides in complete darkness while leveling allegations that describe the purported acts occurring in the plain sight of witnesses who could refute the plaintiff’s claims if only her identity was revealed,” the filing said. It went on to say, “Mr. Carter deserves to know the identity of the person who is effectively accusing him — in sensationalized, publicity-hunting fashion — of criminal conduct, demanding massive financial compensation, and tarnishing a reputation earned over decades.”
The music mogul’s motion alleged the rape allegation is part of a “campaign of extortion” carried out by Tony Buzbee, the attorney who filed Jane Doe’s complaint. This “extortionate campaign” attempted to force the rapper to pay an “exorbitant” amount of money, he alleged.
“Make no mistake, this case is about retaliating against the rare target who would not pay,” the filing said.
Buzbee told USA TODAY in an email Monday that he “can’t and won’t respond to every court filing” but added, “Sending a basic demand is not extortion or blackmail. Throwing those types of allegations around is irresponsible and silly.”
There are a number of rape shield laws on the books at state and federal level, but those laws (granting anonymity to the accuser) are for criminal actions. While the accuser was a minor at the time, it’s been 24 years and she’s now a legal adult, and this is a civil case. While Jay-Z’s motion is horrible in the larger victims-rights sense, it also feels like he’s panicking and trying to defend himself in any way possible.
As for how Jay-Z’s wife feels about all of this… I mean, she’s stayed with him this long. She’s committed to the marriage and to Jay. A “source” told Page Six that Beyonce is “sticking by Jay” and has “no intention” of leaving him. Sources also say that Beyonce has no intention of canceling her Christmas Day halftime show.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” at Dolby Theatre. Pictured: Jay-Z, Beyoncé BACKGRID USA 9 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” at Dolby Theatre. Pictured: Jay-Z, Beyoncé BACKGRID USA 9 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” at Dolby Theatre. Pictured: Beyoncé BACKGRID USA 9 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” at Dolby Theatre. Pictured: Tina Knowles, Beyoncé BACKGRID USA 9 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” at Dolby Theatre. Pictured: Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Blue Ivy Carter BACKGRID USA 9 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” at Dolby Theatre. Pictured: Beyoncé, Blue Ivy Carter BACKGRID USA 9 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Surely he knows who his accuser is — this is all about getting her name into the public so that the various fandoms can try to destroy her.
Exactly
He may not. These famous people were running through women (and men, in the case of Diddy) for years. Apparently, Buzbee has never revealed her name, just her age at the time of the assault. Considering that Jay was cheating on Beyonce throughout their marriage, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he can’t remember everyone he slept with (or assaulted).
I doubt he knew her name while he was raping her, tbh.
He really needs to pipe down and let the lawyers handle this. I don’t know why he didn’t pay her off when he had the opportunity, but these rich f*ks are so selfish and stingy, they’d cut off their nose to save a ha’penny.
As far as I know, these Jane Doe cases only shield the name from the public, NOT the defendant.
If this was already brought to his camp prior to the filing, I am certain he knows her name and wouldn’t be surprised if it is leaked soon
Exactly. A one off at an event where everyone was partying heavily. He probably never knew her name. And in a pattern.
He knows what party that was. It was an after party at a white house after the MTV awards in 2000. And Diddy’s driver that night can easily be identified if he has not been already. The description about what happened and how she ran out of the house half naked is specific; it’s a detail people would remember. He may not know the victim’s name, but he doesn’t need her name to interview potential witnesses to prove his innocence. He wants her name so that his people can look for info so that he can discredit her. He wants to harm her and make it look like it was her fault so that she gives up. Diddy’s homes were raided. They know who was at that party. The information can be subpoenaed. It will take a lot of money and time, but they can do it without exposing who she is.
This is all show to preserve his career and marriage. I think that Beyoncé will eventually be humiliated enough to leave him if it harms her reputation to stay. Perhaps he is “changed”, but she has worked hard on her image. This isn’t infidelity. It’s criminal and disturbing. And the woman in the room with them can be questioned by police if it gets to that point, which, given Diddy’s situation, it just might. If more children/women come forward, it will get there. If this is the only one who comes forward, he will get out of this.
100% agree.
Exactly, this is just a way to victimize her more for deigning to speak up.
It’s the Clarence Thomas style defense. DENY, DENY, DENY and forcefully.
I think there might be more victims in the next months.
I love Jay z’s music. I do not care for his reaction to all this. First he sounded like an arrogant bully. Now he’s sounding like a menace. He does have a history of questionable dealing with much younger and underage girls.
I’m of two minds, if someone falsely accused me of rape, I’d come out swinging. But, if I was guilty and didn’t want to pay the full settlement demand, I would also come out swinging to reduce the price. Who knows which this is.
One thing I notice in all his official statements is the lack of denial. He’s fighting hard, but he’s not professing his innocence. Notice what he says and what he does not say.
Mmmm. False accusations are incredibly rare. Less than 1% once you remove cases that were dropped for other reasons. When people accuse beloved celebrities, it is their lives that usually get destroyed. Despite the mythology.
He is such an incredibly unattractive man. I just don’t see what Beyonce ever saw in him. He has always given me the ick.
Beyonce was a teenager – official story is 18 but they knew each other at least 2 years prior iirc. He was supportive, powerful, and I am sure charming. I don’t feel their true dynamic gets caught by the media bc they are so private.
Also – he has been close with Diddy a lonnnnnng time. Who knows what Beyonce has known, seen, or experienced over the last few decades being in that circle.
*I am not making accusations she was involved or abused, just that she is in his inner circle
Power, power can be seductive and nobody is going to mess with Beyonce if he is around. And would have the best team of writers and producer around her to churn out hit after hit for her.
And if rumors are true he may or may not have been grooming Beyonce herself since was about 15 years old.
Yes, very unattractive.
My understanding is Diddy taped that s**t. Did the other stars know that?
I would guess it’s on tape.
It’s going to be nice seeing that one fall. Celeb friends’ silence is wonderfully deafening. Don’t believe for one minute that he wasn’t a complete insider to those “parties”.
Firstly:
What would naming his victim do?…other than possibly intimidate and bully her into settling. No one wants to be known for being raped; just as the rapist wants to avoid being known as one for the rest of their career (doesn’t want their good name dragged through the media mud) neither do the people who have been violated in such a “heinous” way.
Secondly:
Is it possible that in the time the rape took place (decades ago) that Jay Z was fucking around so wrecklessly that now he doesn’t even remember the “heinous” acts he committed? Just a thought since he feels his behaviors/“code” are a reflection of what he’s been through and where he comes from. I can confirm the well spoken of code in the hood of girls and women being taken advantage of, used and abused.
Lastly:
I knew a woman in the nineties in NYC who worked in the music industry in SoHo and she told me about how she’d been sexually taken advantage of by people she worked for in the music industry. Jay Z was one person in particular that my friend mentioned as being particularly twisted. After messing with him my friend told me she couldn’t make sense of how she was being treated by Jay and that he’d played mind tricks on her to make her think she had brought her being sexually violated on herself
@Ingrid, your mention of your friend reminds me of how gossip protects women when word gets around. The entertainment business is full of men who dehumanize and abuse women and young men. About 25 years ago, someone told me about Will and Jada’s open relationship because they separately were sexually pursued a young woman who knew a woman where I loved about what happened to her. She went back home traumatized weeks later and abandoned the business because of it. It was gossip, but then it came out 20 years later that they were open and would get involved with people who weren’t (Jaden’s friend who fell for Jada). And then there was the Weinstein stories. Brain McKnight’s Jabba the Hut looking manager hit on me backstage in Oakland 20 years ago. He thought I was a groupie. I wasn’t dressed professionally. Asshole…
People survive the business, but many entertainment gatekeepers are sexual predators. I am sad about Jay-Z, but not surprised at all.
I need to proofread better! Sorry.
About 25 years ago, someone told me about Will and Jada’s open relationship because they separately sexually pursued a young woman who knew a woman where I lived who told me about what happened to her.
How do we change this stuff? How do we hold gatekeepers accountable? These men do these things, but the greedy around them keep their secrets, and no one believes the victims unless there are massive lawsuits like Virginia Guiffre. Cassie was high profile, so it seems that a parasocial connection with a victim can sway the public, but most victims are not high profile or likely to fight.
Gossip is important.
It does seem like he wouldn’t have to know her identity to know whether he raped her or not. Have there been that many? This demand makes him look more guilty, not less.
Exactly. That many, that night? That night, at that party, were there so many girls that he undressed, held down, raped and passed on to Diddy that he isn’t sure WHICH one this is?
He is looking scummier every day, with every move and everything he says.
(and everyone knows he only wants her name to attack her again)
This. It’s so easy to say ‘I’ ve never raped anyone… I’ve never SA’ed an underage minor’. He’s unwillingly hinting he wants to know whom out of his victims below consent age is trying to sue. Pathetic.
Boo to Beyonce for accepting the use of Blue Ivy as a tableau vivant for how a 13 yo can look like an adult.
Exactly!
This makes him a dangerous person to me. I already never liked him – his vibes were always off – but to purposely try to put someone out into the public where you know they can be destroyed and harmed? You trash for that. I think he did it too with the company he seems to have kept and how loud he is on this.
Especially because the Bey-hive is pretty rabid. They’ll either go after her *hard* or do nothing because they believe it and think he’s trash for how he’s treated his wife. But there won’t be an in between.
I just recall reading stories about his behaviour from so-called video hoes years ago. And then reading / seeing stories about his pursuit of a very young Aaliyah followed by a very young Beyoncé. I’ve side-eyed him for a long time.
Mind you, is any of this new? 50s, 60s 70s and 80s rock stars had “sex” with 12-16 year olds with alarming frequency. They wrote hit songs about it. Named these girls baby groupies. There was for sure assault as well.
Bill Wyman, Jimmy Page, Ted Nugent, Steven Tyler, Iggie Pop, David Bowie, Randy California, Eric Clapton, Gary Glitter, Jonny Thunders, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Robert Plant, Ron Asheton, James Brown, Jonathon King, Rick James, Marvin Gaye, Don Henley, Axl Rose… there have been stories about all of these men with minors. Some of those stories are violent. Some involve kidnapping, trafficking and rape.
These days we’ve got Diddy, Marilyn Manson, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, Jack Barakat from All Time Low, Anthony Kiedis, Jared Leto, Nick Carter, Ryan Adams, Mystikal, (EDM DJ) Bassnectar, Drake Bell, T.I., Tekashi 6ix9ine, Trey Songz, Jesse Lacey from Brand New, Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence, Mike Milian of Rhye, Ian Watkins from Lostprophets… there have been rumours and stories about Drake too. Now Jay-Z.
This is a systemic, cultural thing.
It will be interesting if the first music stars to actually be punished appropriately are all black men.
But if this particular lawyer tried to “extort” him before, surely he knows in whose name demans were made?
At this point, I’d like for Jay-Z to explain exactly what his dealings with the lawyer were, or I am inclined to believe the alleged victim.
No, legal demands do not need to have a name (especially if the threat of filing the complaint will be as a Jane Doe). You do have to state the claims with specificity, so that the defendant can “defend” themselves against the allegations. In this case, he’s claiming that if he knew her name/who she was, he could better defend himself because he could reach out to witnesses who would be able to refute her accusations. That being said, as someone noted above, it seems he really wants her name just to open her up to abuse. And he knows that his attorneys would get a chance to depose her in a civil action and question her about her allegations in full.
Thank you for the clarification.
I also find it interesting that he would want to know her name to be able to “clarify” the situation. If she were an adult, that would make perfect sense. But she was a child, so his demand reads like conformation that he had some dealings with 13-year olds. He didn’t flat out deny that there is no chance he was doing something with a girl that young.
Of course he is panicking. I believe the accuser and I hope she gets the justice she deserves!!
Exactly. No, I am not in a “let’s see how this plays out in court” mode, I am in a “I believe the victim first and foremost” mode. Always believe the victims. Always
This was the Garth Brooks play, right? Come out aggressively proclaiming your innocence, calling it extortion, and countersuing the victim into submission?
Yes, and these tactics also have a Name: DARVO Tactics.
Im very disappointed because I was a huge Jay Z fan back then. But hes unfortunately not the first idol to disappoint and probably will not be the last one. The Damage is done and will haunt him forever. You can’t be one of Diddys close buddies for 3 Decades and declare, i didn’t know anything. Men talk, a lot! Especially about women/s ex
How many 13 yr olds did he r*pe if he needs her name to be able to properly defend himself? Did he regularly go to parties with middle school students and he doesn’t which one he’s accused of attacking her at? And he wants all of his fans to know her name. Keep putting out statements. It’s just helping the victim.
Ummm “..so witnesses that were present could help refute the claims..”.
Oh my God you fool the other witness was Puffy. And we all know how it’s going for him. Jay-Z just found his 100th problem. They are all about to go down.
I think according to the initial complaint there’s a still unnamed female celebrity witness.
The DARVO template, that’s what Jay Z is following. If he had never done anything untoward, then after so long and with no evidence, he would not be using this method.
Tina Knowles initially seemed to like an article accusing him before she “was hacked.” Since then, Beyonce has signalled her support (with her Mom and Blue). If celebrities were waiting for her, we’ll hear from them soon.
I find it curious many Black people know Tony Buzbee and none of us have anything good to say about the man. He’s a mess.
The lawyer is a mess? Who cares? He wins cases.
All I know about Buzbee is his association with Texas thug AG, which makes me not trust him at all. His involvement is the only thing making me side eye the veracity.
If there was an extortion attempt, wouldn’t there be proof? I don’t see anyone saying that. Just demanding to release the name of a victim who was a child at the time.
For all of this, I just want the truth to come out, and anyone who hurt someone else, especially a minor, to face justice.
The court is already starting to order the victims to reveal their identities. There was one in the news last weekend who is the former wife of a sports celebrity. Her lawsuit alleges she was trafficked from another state as a teen and then Combs and I think someone else raped her.
In the diddy case the victims are all ready to reveal their identities, if required by the court. It was a prerequisite of filing, so that there will be no delays.
she was 13 and this wasn’t statutory rape so I don’t think there’s a statute of limitations, perhaps she should take him up on his suggestion that criminal charges be filed as well
This sounds to me like a guilty person trying to use whatever he can to get away with a crime. If he was not guilty of this, what would he care, he’d be cleared anyway.
Jay-z has always been a disgusting human. I hope he gets what he deserves. Swiftly.
Forcing a victim to reveal herself is beyond low and disgusting. if i believed he was guilty and awful before, now it’s even worse.
I guess I don’t understand why this one gets a “let’s see how it plays out in court” when it’s usually “I believe women”.
Why is this one different? I’m really trying to understand
if he weren’t married to Bey, we wouldn’t be waiting to see….
bully behavior, hasn’t this woman suffered enough?