Rapper Jay-Z has filed a new motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl. According to sources, the motion was filed on Wednesday, January 8.
The award-winning performer and his legal team are said to have highlighted “inconsistencies” in the accuser’s account.
Jay-Z had issued a statement via Roc Nation, denying all accusations and calling them “heinous in nature”. He also said they were “blackmail attempts” by the plaintiff’s lawyer, Anthony Buzbee.
According to reports, Jay-Z, a.k.a. Shawn Carter, and his lawyers have requested that “a monetary sanction” be placed on Buzbee, as the accuser’s lawyer failed to “adequately investigate the woman’s allegations before he filed the lawsuit.”
They also referred to an interview the female complainant granted to NBC News last year, in which she stood by her allegations but admitted there were “some mistakes” in her account when it came to naming witnesses.
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On January 2, a federal judge granted the rapper’s legal team permission to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The case, brought by an anonymous woman claiming that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulted her at a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards after-party, had raised significant legal questions.
The woman, referred to as Jane Doe, alleges that she was drugged and assaulted by the two hip-hop moguls at the after-party when she was only 13 years old. However, Jay-Z’s attorney, Alex Spiro, presented a multi-layered defense, questioning the validity of the claims.
Legal team for Jay Z insist that the inconsistencies in the woman’s account casts “a considerable doubt” on Plaintiff’s allegation of rape.
“To sign a pleading accusing someone of such a horrific crime without adequately vetting the allegation – particularly when the defendant’s prominence means that the allegation will be repeated in headlines across the world – is deeply wrong and unethical,” the rapper’s team said about the accuser’s lawyer.
“If lawyers do not face consequences for such a cavalier effort to destroy another person’s reputation and inflict emotional harm on his loved ones, that tactic will proliferate,” the legal team added while calling for sanctions against the plaintiff’s lawyer.
However, the complainant’s lawyer said he believes the motion was put forward in an attempt to “bully or intimidate” those involved.
“They think they can bully or intimidate counsel for victims by filing meritless and frivolous pleadings full of lies and half-truths. Again, they are dead wrong…We will address the utter lack of merit with his filing with the Court, rather than with the press,” the woman’s lawyer said.
