On Sunday, December 8, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl hours after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in a civil lawsuit refiled by prominent attorney Tony Buzbee.
Carter immediately issued a statement via social media. The Brooklynite denied the accusations and called Buzbee a “fraud.”
“May lawyer received a blackmail attempt called a demand letter from a ‘lawyer’ named Tony Buzbee. He [thought] the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle. No, sir. It had the opposite effect. 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 stated.
On Friday, December 13, Chloe Melas, Janelle Griffith and Maite Amorebieta published a report after the woman accusing Combs and Carter of rape spoke to NBC News. The accuser said she made “mistakes” in her account of the incident and acknowledged there were “inconsistencies in her account of the incident.” However, she maintains the allegations made against Combs and Carter are not false.
The NBC News report highlighted multiple inconsistencies in her account. First, she recalls her father picking her up after the alleged incident, but he does not recall doing so. Second, she claims to have spoken to a celebrity at the after-party where she says that Combs and Carter forced themselves upon her, but the celebrity says he was not in the area at the time. Third, the photos of Combs and Carter together on the night of the alleged incident are at a location different than what she described.
“Jane Doe’s case was referred to our firm by another, who vetted it prior to sending it to us,” Buzbee told NBC News.
“Our client remains fiercely adamant that what she has stated is true, to the best of her memory. We will continue to vet her claims and collect corroborating data to the extent it exists. Because we have interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to submit to a polygraph. I’ve never had a client suggest that before.”
Carter’s attorney, Alex Spiro, has condemned Buzbee for “peddling this false story.”
“It is stunning that a lawyer would not only file such a serious complaint without proper vetting, but would make things worse by further peddling this false story in the press,” Spiro said.
“We are asking the Court to dismiss this frivolous case today, and will take up the matter of additional discipline for Mr. Buzbee and all the lawyers that filed the complaint.”
