Rap star Jay-Z has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with fellow music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs at a party in 2000, NBC News reported on Sunday, citing a lawsuit.
The suit was reportedly filed in the Southern District of New York in October, and originally listed only Combs as a defendant. It was refiled on Sunday to add Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
According to the anonymous accuser, reportedly identified as “Jane Doe” in the document, the assault happened at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in 2000. At the time, the alleged victim was 13 years old, the news outlet noted.
The lawsuit reportedly specified that the girl did not have a ticket, and was trying to gain access to the show at the Radio City Music Hall or an after-party by asking various limousine drivers to help. One of them allegedly told her that he was working for Combs and that she “fit what Diddy was looking for.” The driver reportedly invited her to a party after the show and told her to return to his car later in the evening after he transported Carter and Combs.
The suit claims that the driver later picked her up and drove to a white house with a U-shaped driveway. The accuser was forced to sign a document she believed was a nondisclosure agreement on arrival to enter the party, where she was offered a drink that made her feel “woozy, lightheaded and felt [like] she needed to lie down.”
According to the document, shortly after she went into a room to rest, Combs and Carter entered with Diddy saying: “You are ready to party!” Carter then allegedly removed her clothes, held her down and raped her while Combs and an unnamed female celebrity looked on. Combs also raped the girl, the suit alleged, as Carter and the woman watched.
The lawsuit was filed and updated by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents more than a hundred other applicants who have made various sexual misconduct allegations against Combs. The rapper is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as he awaits trial. It is the first suit in which the lawyer has named another high-profile defendant. Buzbee declined to comment on the latest developments to NBC News.
“Carter received a letter from Plaintiff’s counsel requesting a mediation to resolve this matter” before the suit was refiled Sunday, the media outlet noted, citing the document.
Carter has filed his own lawsuit against the accuser’s attorneys in response to the letter seen by NBC News. He described the allegations as “idiotic” and has accused Buzbee engaging in unprofessional behavior.
“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?” the rapper said in a statement to NBC News. “These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
Diddy’s attorneys said in a statement that the suits were “shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs.”