Jay-Z has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in the early 2000s.
In an amended lawsuit filed Sunday, an Alabama woman — identified anonymously as Jane Doe — claims the billionaire music mogul, born Shawn Carter, and Combs drugged and raped her at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000. The woman brought a lawsuit against Combs in October for the alleged assault.
Doe also alleges that another unnamed celebrity “stood by and watched as Combs and Carter took turns assaulting” her. NBC News was the first to report the news.
“Combs has been allowed for years to conduct himself in this manner without any consequences,” reads the lawsuit, filed by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee. “He believes he is above the law. He is not. His close friend Shawn Carter has been with Combs during many such instances. … Both perpetrators must face justice.”
Jay-Z vehemently denied the allegations against him in a statement Sunday.
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The claims against Jay-Z come amid an avalanche of legal woes for Combs, who was arrested in September on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The embattled hip-hop mogul has been held in custody at the Special Housing Unit in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of his upcoming May 5 trial.
In his 14-page indictment filed in federal court, Combs was accused of turning his “multi-faceted business empire” into a “criminal enterprise” in which he and his associates engaged in kidnapping, arson and physical violence, sex trafficking and forced labor, among other crimes.”
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Jay-Z blasts Jane Doe’s lawsuit as ‘blackmail attempt’
In a statement provided by his representative Jana Fleishman, Jay-Z called Buzbee’s lawsuit a “blackmail attempt.”
“What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” Jay-Z said of Buzbee in the statement. “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!!”
Jay-Z, who is married to pop superstar Beyoncé, went on to say that his “only heartbreak is for my family.” The couple shares three children: daughter Blue Ivy, 12, and fraternal twins Rumi and Sir, 7.
“My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people,” the rapper said.
“I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
He concluded: “My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.”
Woman sues Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for allegedly raping her as teen
According to the woman’s original lawsuit, Doe was attempting to get into the MTV VMAs when she met Combs’ limousine driver, who allegedly told her the record label founder “liked younger girls” and that she “fit what Diddy was looking for.”
The driver then reportedly told her to return later in the night, and when she did, she was taken to an after-party at a home, presumably belonging to Combs. She was then instructed to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
The Jane Doe said she accepted one “bitter” drink when she began to feel woozy and claims she was drugged. She said she entered an empty bedroom to lie down when Combs and two celebrities entered; one is now alleged to be Jay-Z, while the other remains unnamed.
She alleges Combs told her she was “ready to party” and threw her toward Jay-Z, who she says removed her clothes and held her down as he raped her while Combs and the unnamed female celebrity watched. Then Combs raped her while Jay-Z and female celebrity looked on.
Combs allegedly tried to force the girl to perform oral sex on him, but after the girl hit him, he stopped. The girl grabbed her clothes, eventually found an exit and left for a gas station, where she called her father and confessed her whereabouts, according to the suit.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
This story was updated to add new information.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
