Jay-Z filed a lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee, David Fortney and their Jane Doe client over the previously dropped alleged sexual assault suit, according to Alabama court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
On Monday, March 3, Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) proposed three causes of action: malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and civil conspiracy against all three defendants. He also proposed a fourth cause of action, defamation against the Jane Doe. He is seeking assumed, actual and punitive damages.
Jay-Z claimed in the new filing that the initial allegations of rape against him were knowingly “false” and “malicious.” He added that the sexual assault suit was “strategically and tactically calculated and time to inflict maximum pain and suffering” to him.
The previous suit, which was originally filed on Oct. 20, 2024, claimed that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000. Buzbee and fellow attorney Antigone Curis had the suit voluntarily dismissed on Friday, Feb. 14.
In his March 3 filing, Jay-Z alleges in a new suit that the Oct. 20 lawsuit was founded on false information from the Jane Doe and her lawyers. The filing alleges that the Jane Doe and her lawyers “launched to extort” the rapper “through a menacing ‘private’ ‘demand letter,’ ” adding that the “malicious” defendants made “a desperate attempt to leverage Mr. Carter into an extortionate payoff.”
The filing stated that the Jane Doe “voluntarily admitted” to Jay-Z’s representative that “Carter did not assault her” and that Buzbee “pushed her to go forward with the false narrative of the assault by Mr. Carter in order to leverage a maximum payday.”
It also stated that Jay-Z “brings this lawsuit to hold Doe accountable for her willful defamation per se and her malicious prosecution of knowingly false allegations against” Jay-Z.
On March 3, Buzbee issued a statement to PEOPLE: “This new case alleges the same claims as the other one they pieced together and filed in Los Angeles. Like the one in LA, this new case in Alabama also has no legal merit… she stands by her claims.”
The statement continued, “After speaking with Jane Doe today, it appears that the quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit are completely made up, or they spoke to someone who isn’t Jane Doe.”
“This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course. We won’t be bullied or intimidated by frivolous cases.”
The recent filing follows Jay-Z’s first filing against Buzbee in L.A. in December 2024, accusing him of civil extortion, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On Tuesday, Feb. 25, L.A. Judge Mark H. Epstein signaled that the defamation claim has merit to proceed to trial, according to Rolling Stone. But he is leaning toward dismissing the extortion claim.
It also comes weeks after the rapper’s Monday, Feb. 10 filing, alleging Buzbee purposefully inflicted emotional distress on him by filing the lawsuit.
The declaration added that Buzbee intentionally filed the complaint on the eve of his daughter Blue Ivy’s Mufasa: The Lion King movie premiere “to put me in the position of having to choose between supporting my daughter or hiding to avoid the negative press.” He and wife Beyoncé share Blue Ivy, 13, and twins Rumi and Sir, 7½. Beyoncé and Jay-Z ended up attending the event.
Additionally, Jay-Z alleges that he lost $20 million in contracts due to the false allegations in Buzbee’s lawsuit and that he has been going through deep “mental anguish” since it was filed.
After several alleged inconsistencies in the Jane Doe’s allegations, the October suit was “voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice” on Feb. 14 by Buzbee and fellow attorney Antigone Curis, per NBC News. The suit cannot be refiled.
That same day, Jay-Z issued a statement on Roc Nation’s X account, calling the dismissal “a victory.” and said that these allegations caused “trauma” for his wife and three children.
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If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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