7 Burning Questions

What are the claims in the lawsuit against Jay-Z?

Jay-Z attended the Mufasa premiere with his wife, daughter and mother-in-law on Dec. 9.

In her filing, the plaintiff (“Jane Doe”) alleges that she attended an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in NYC, where she met Jay-Z and Diddy. She claims she felt “woozy” after being given a drink and that she went to lie down in a room. According to the suit, Jay-Z and Diddy entered the room, and Jay-Z proceeded to undress her and rape her as Diddy and an unnamed female celebrity watched. She says Diddy was trying to force her to perform oral sex when she struck him and was able to grab her clothes and leave.

When Jane Doe initially filed the suit against Diddy in October, Jay-Z was not identified (he was referred to as an unnamed celebrity male). Around that time, her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, reached out to the Roc Nation founder to ask for a mediation meeting; in his correspondence, Buzbee included a photo of a ticking time clock. Jay-Z then sued Buzbee under the name John Doe and accused him of attempting to “extort exorbitant sums” from him by making false assault claims. Buzbee amended the original suit to include Jay-Z’s name.

What was Jay-Z’s response?

He issued a public statement on Dec. 9 vehemently denying the claims. “These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?” he wrote in part, going on to call Buzbee “a deplorable human” and an “ambulance chaser.” Jay-Z added, “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down… and explain the cruelty and greed of people.”