Jay-Z, accused in suit of raping minor with Sean Combs, calls it blackmail

New York: Jay-Z was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean Combs in a lawsuit filed Sunday by an unnamed plaintiff. He vehemently denied the allegation and accused the lawyer who brought the suit of trying to blackmail him with false claims.

The allegations against the billionaire rapper and hip-hop mogul came as part of the flurry of litigation against Combs, who is facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges and at least 30 lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct. One of those lawsuits, filed in October, accused Combs and an anonymous celebrity of raping the teen at an after-party following the Video Music Awards in New York in 2000.

On Sunday, the plaintiff amended the lawsuit to name Jay-Z as the other celebrity, asserting in court papers that he and Combs took turns raping her after she arrived at the party and drank part of a drink that made her feel “woozy and lightheaded.” Jay-Z called the claims “idiotic” and said that he came from a world where “we protect children.” Combs has denied all allegations of sexual assault and misconduct and has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.

The lawsuit was filed by Tony Buzbee, a personal injury lawyer in Houston, who has filed at least 20 sex assault lawsuits against Combs and used a phone hotline, Instagram and a news conference to find clients.

In an extensive response, Jay-Z, 55, said he had received a demand letter from Buzbee appearing to seek a settlement but that the letter 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!!,” the statement read.

The statement went on to say: “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. You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same. I’m not from your world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games.”

The suit filed by Buzbee noted that Jay-Z had responded to the legal letter by filing a preemptive lawsuit, which the suit called “frivolous.”

According to the Buzbee lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, the plaintiff went to Radio City Music Hall to try to gain entrance to the awards show being held there or to attend an after-party. She said in the suit that she approached several limousine drivers parked near the venue, and that a driver for Combs agreed to take her to an after-party, which she described as having taken place at a “large white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway.”

The suit said that after the drink she was given made her feel woozy, she went to lie down in an empty bedroom, where it said Combs, Jay-Z and an unidentified female celebrity entered.

The lawsuit suit said the plaintiff was held down by Jay-Z as he raped her, but that while Combs was assaulting her, she began hitting him in the neck and managed to escape the party. The suit said she ran to a gas station, where her father picked her up.

Combs’ lawyers have denied that he sexually assaulted anyone and have said the news conference Buzbee held was part of a “reckless media circus” and a publicity stunt.

All of the suits from Buzbee have been initially filed by anonymous plaintiffs. The judge overseeing the case against Combs and Jay-Z granted the plaintiff anonymity on a temporary basis, but she will soon reevaluate whether the plaintiff can proceed without identifying herself.