Jay-Z was accused in a civil lawsuit on Sunday of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 alongside Sean Combs. The lawsuit, first filed in October in the Southern District of New York, initially listed the Roc Nation mogul, whose real name is Shawn Carter, as an unidentified celebrity defendant. Carter has vehemently denied the allegation and accused the lawyer who brought the suit of trying to blackmail him with false claims.
The accuser, suing as a Jane Doe, claimed she was assaulted by Combs and Carter after being driven to an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards held in New York City.
The amended complaint, obtained by Rolling Stone, states that Doe had a friend drop her near Radio City Music Hall so she could try and attend the VMAs, but she did not have a ticket. Because she wanted to attend the show or an afterparty, she says she approached limousine drivers to attempt to have them help her gain entrance. One of the drivers claimed to work for Combs and invited her to an afterparty. Per the suit, he told her to return to the location where they met, so he could take her to the event after he drove Combs and others to the afterparty first.
Per the complaint, two men asked Doe to sign a document, which she claimed she did not read but now assumes was a non-disclosure agreement. She was advised not to discuss the proceeding at the event. Doe said she recognized many celebrities inside and witnessed widespread drug use.
After being offered a drink from one of the waitstaff, Doe began to “feel woozy and lightheaded, making her need to lie down,” the lawsuit alleges. Doe then sought a place to rest, and found a room with a large bed. Shortly after, Combs allegedly entered the room with Carter and a female celebrity, who is unnamed in the complaint.
Combs allegedly “aggressively approached Plaintiff with a crazed look in his eyes, grabbed her, and said, ‘You are ready to party!’”
“Combs then threw Plaintiff toward a wall, causing Plaintiff to fall,” per the complaint. Doe then attempted to get up and stumbled. “Combs grabbed her again and threw her on the bed. At that point, Carter began removing Plaintiff’s clothes as she grew more and more disoriented,” the complaint alleges. Doe claims she was held down by Carter as he allegedly raped her, while Combs and the female celebrity looked on.
Afterward, Combs allegedly raped Doe while Carter and the unidentified female celebrity watched. Combs then allegedly attempted to force Doe to perform oral sex on him, but she fought back and punched him in the neck, which “stopped his attempt,” the lawsuit states.
According to the suit, after the alleged assault, Doe “grabbed her clothes” and left. She found her way to a gas station where she called her father to pick her up, she says.
Carter’s attorney did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment. But in a statement from Jay-Z, he accused Doe’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of blackmail in the form of a demand letter.
“What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” the statement read. “No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud that you are in a VERY public fashion.”
“These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one,” the statement continues. “Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away.” It continued: “These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
“My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit,” the statement adds.
“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,” Combs’ legal team said in a statement. “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.”
Jane Doe is seeking unspecified damages. Her lawsuit is one of at least 20 complaints filed by Buzbee clients against Combs so far. The Texas-based lawyer has said he’s representing more than 120 clients against Combs. He filed a first batch of six lawsuits against Combs earlier in October. There have been more than 30 sexual misconduct lawsuits filed against Combs since his former partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura first sued him for rape and trafficking in November 2023. That lawsuit was settled within 24 hours, but it opened the floodgates to other allegations and a criminal investigation.
Combs, 55, was indicted in September and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The media mogul was arrested in New York City on Sept. 16 and has been detained since. He’s currently housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His trial is set for May 2025.
In November, a self-described celebrity anonymously sued Buzbee, claiming the lawyer was “shamelessly” trying to extort him while representing more than 100 men and women with purported legal claims against Combs. According to a statement from Buzbee posted on X on Sunday, the anonymous celebrity is Carter. “My firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him,” Buzbee wrote, addressing Carter’s statement. “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.”
This article was updated with a statement from Tony Buzbee on X, claiming Shawn Carter anonymously sued him.