The woman at the center of one of the most explosive allegations against Jay-Z now says she never even met him. That reversal has given the rapper fresh ammunition, and he’s using it to try to drag attorney Tony Buzbee back into court.
As reported by Rolling Stone, Shawn Carter filed a petition for rehearing with California’s Second Appellate District.
He’s asking the court to reconsider its refusal to reinstate his extortion and defamation suit against Buzbee, the lawyer who once represented the accuser.
The accuser, known only as Jane Doe, had claimed that Jay-Z and Diddy raped her in 2000 when she was 13 years old.
Last Thursday (Sept. 24), she issued a statement denying that she ever encountered or spoke to Jay-Z. She also said she was not threatened by Carter or any of his associates, and she denied being paid to take back her story.
Carter’s legal team moved fast. Jane Doe’s declaration proves that discovery would yield evidence supporting Carter’s claims,” the petition reads, according to Rolling Stone. “Fairness and due process require this court to grant rehearing.”
The legal road here has been rough for the 24-time Grammy winner. His original suit against Buzbee was dismissed last year under California’s anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to shut down lawsuits that target people for speech connected to legal proceedings. The appellate panel upheld that dismissal just this month.
The court’s reasoning offers the clearest counterpoint to Carter’s position. The panel found there wasn’t enough evidence that Buzbee knowingly made false accusations, and that distinction matters.
A client walking back her claims years later doesn’t automatically prove her lawyer knew they were false when he filed them.
Carter sees it very differently. The Brooklyn native has long argued that Buzbee was running a legal shakedown, pointing out that the lawyer dropped the sexual assault lawsuit against him and Diddy last February. He’s also claimed his business took a $20 million hit because of the rape allegations.
Buzbee became one of the most visible figures in the wave of litigation around Sean Combs, representing a large number of people who came forward with claims against the mogul.
For his critics, the Jane Doe retraction raises questions about how those cases were vetted. For his supporters, one recantation says little about the broader body of allegations.
Diddy, meanwhile, is currently serving time after being convicted on Mann Act violations. His legal troubles have kept this entire saga in the headlines, and every new development tends to pull Jay-Z’s name right back into the conversation.
Now the question sits with the Second Appellate District. The judges will have to decide if a sworn denial from the accuser herself is enough to reopen a door they only just closed, and Carter is betting it is.
