Rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter,was accused in a lawsuit Sundayof raping a teenage girl after an awards show more than two decades ago along with Sean Diddy Combs, the hip-hop mogulfacing federal sex trafficking chargesanda wave of lawsuits alleging sexual assault.
The complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, stated that the plaintiff in Sunday’s claim was 13 years old at the time of the alleged assault.
Carter said in a statement on Sunday that the accusations were “idiotic” and refuted them. The lawsuit was dismissed by Combs’ legal team as a blatant publicity gimmick.
What we know about the lawsuit is as follows.
What are the allegations against Carter?
Originally brought against Combs in October, the complaint was modified on Sunday to add Carter as a defendant.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, Jane Doe, met the males at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan in 2000 following the MTV Music Video Awards. According to the lawsuit, she had been attempting to enter the event or attend an after-party without a ticket and had started chatting with limo drivers outside.
According to the lawsuit, one of the drivers claimed to have worked for Combs and informed her that she was the kind of person Diddy was seeking. She was offered a drink that made her “woozy,” according to the lawsuit, and told to sign what she thought was a nondisclosure agreement when the driver transported her to an after-party.
According to the lawsuit, Combs and Carter entered a room where the plaintiff was lying down. The suit claims that as Combs and a female celebrity who is not identified in the papers watched, Carter undressed her and sexually assaulted her.
According to the lawsuit, Combs attempted to coerce the plaintiff into having oral sex, but he stopped after she struck him in the neck. It claims that after grabbing her clothes, she hurried to a gas station and called her father.
What does Carter say about the suit?
Carter stated in a statement that the lawyer who brought the lawsuit had made a grave mistake by assuming that all celebrities are the same. I’m from a different universe. I’m a young man who survived the Brooklyn project. We don t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain.
Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable, he added.
Carter described a pre-litigation demand letter from the lawyer who filed the suit as an effort to blackmail him into settling. Attorney Tony Buzbee said his client had sought only confidential mediation and did not demand any money.
In response to the letter, Buzbee said in the amended complaint that Carter orchestrated a conspiracy of harassment, bullying and intimidation against Plaintiff s lawyers, their families, employees and former associates in an attempt to silence Plaintiff from naming Jay-Z.
On Monday,a lawyer for Carter asked a judge to either deny a requestto allow the plaintiff to remain anonymous or dismiss the case.
Carter s lawyer asked for an expedited hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
The lawyer, Alex Spiro, said the plaintiff s decision to sue anonymously was inconsistent with a genuine effort to determine the truth or falsity of these allegations as opposed to an effort to procure a quick, extortionate settlement.
How are Carter and Combs linked?
Both men rose to fame in the 1990s hip-hop scene in New York, with Combs founding Bad Boy Records and helping launch the career of the Notorious B.I.G., and Carter helping found Roc-A-Fella Records and releasing his debut album in 1996.
They appeared on each other s music and went on to become well-known and wealthy entrepreneurs whose business ventures went far beyond hip-hop.
Carter founded the entertainment company Roc Nation in 2008. Forbeshas estimated his wealthat $2.5 billion. Much of Diddy s wealth in recent years came from a partnership with a vodka brand,according to Forbes.
What are the allegations against Combs?
Combs, 55, was arrested in September in connection with what federal authorities described as a yearslong scheme to sexually abuse and exploit women. He was charged with a racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation for purposes of prostitution, federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors in New York s Southern District accused Combs of coercing and forcing women into elaborate, drug-fueled freak offs with male sex workers that he arranged, directed and recorded.
Combs has also beennamed as a defendant in lawsuits Buzbeefiledon behalf of more than 100 accusers from across the U.S.
Combs, who is being held at Brooklyn s Metropolitan Detention Center without bail, pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, and his lawyers have denied the allegations in the lawsuits.
As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process, his legal representatives said in a statement Sunday. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone man or woman, adult or minor.
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