According to a court document submitted on Friday in a New York federal court, Jay-Z and Sean Combs have successfully extricated themselves from a lawsuit that alleged they raped a 13-year-old girl two decades ago. The anonymous plaintiff's attorney has moved to dismiss the case "with prejudice," effectively barring any future refiling. No further specifics were unveiled.
Jay-Z, also known as Shawn Carter, took to his platform X to denounce the accusations as "utterly frivolous, fantastical, and deeply disturbing." He further remarked, "This civil suit was devoid of any merit and was always destined for failure. The concocted narrative they cooked up was laughable, were it not for the gravity of the allegations."
In his statement, Combs referred to the dismissal as "yet another testament to the fact that these lawsuits rest on fabrications, not realities." He accused the accusers of hiding behind anonymity, represented by an "attorney more preoccupied with media attention than legal validity," and expressed optimism that other such suits would meet a similar fate.
Tony Buzbee, the legal representative for the Jane Doe plaintiff, declined to offer any comment.
The initial complaint, filed in October in a New York federal court against Combs and later amended to encompass Carter, revolved around allegations that these rap moguls assaulted an underage girl at a house party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Buzbee, who has filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of accusers leveling sexual assault claims against Combs, represented Jane Doe.
Carter, in his X post, scathingly labeled Buzbee a "run-of-the-mill lawyer" who "files suits under the guise of Jane Doe." He urged courts to "shield the innocent from unfounded accusations devoid of any evidence."
In December, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres rejected Carter's bid to dismiss the lawsuit and permitted Jane Doe to proceed anonymously, albeit with the stipulation that she might be compelled to disclose her identity if the case progressed. She also condemned what she deemed "combative motions" and "inflammatory rhetoric" employed by Alex Spiro, Carter's lawyer, in court filings.
"Carter's lawyer's incessant filing of contentious motions laden with inflammatory language and personal attacks is unacceptable, a squandering of judicial resources, and a tactic unlikely to advance his client's cause," Torres wrote. "The Court will not expedite the judicial process merely because counsel demands it."
Meanwhile, Combs continues to grapple with a plethora of lawsuits, several of which were filed by Buzbee-represented accusers accusing him of sexual assault in various courts across the nation. He remains incarcerated pending a criminal trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
