Music mogul Jay-Z has filed a defamation lawsuit against an anonymous woman who earlier accused him of raping her when she was 13, alleging she was banking on “false and malicious claims” for financial gain.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in the Southern District of Alabama – where the woman identified only as “Jane Doe” lives – also accuses her and her attorneys of extortion and of being “soullessly motivated by greed.”
Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, claims the allegations against him were “malevolent efforts to assassinate the impeccable and lifetime-earned character” of his personal and professional life.
The woman in a previous lawsuit alleged rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z sexually assaulted her in 2000 at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in Manhattan.
Carter has vigorously denied the allegations. And that case was dropped last month after the woman withdrew her lawsuit against the men, in a notice of voluntary dismissal signed by Doe’s attorneys.
Combs faces more than 40 sexual assault lawsuits and, unlike Carter, has been indicted on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. Combs has pleaded not guilty and is in custody awaiting a trial scheduled for May.
Meanwhile, Carter’s lawsuit claims Doe “voluntarily admitted directly to” his representatives that no assault occurred, and it accuses her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of coercing her into pursuing the allegations to extract a substantial financial settlement.
In addition to the defamation claim against the woman, Carter accuses her and her attorneys of malicious prosecution, abuse of process and civil conspiracy.
Buzbee told CNN the Alabama filing “has no legal merit” and Doe continues to stand by her allegations. He also accused Carter’s investigators of trying to discredit Doe, claiming they were “caught on tape offering to pay people to sue me and my firm.” Buzbee further alleged the quotes attributed to Doe in Carter’s lawsuit were either fabricated or came from someone impersonating her, calling the filing “another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman.”
Doe’s other lawyer, David Fortney, did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment. (CNN)
