Jay-Z accused in civil lawsuit of raping 13-year old girl with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

The rapper has vehemently denied the allegations, calling them a ‘blackmail attempt’ filed by an ‘ambulance chaser in a cheap suit’.

Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z, Usher, and Mariah Carey at the 26th Birthday party for Usher in October 2004. Picture: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

Rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has been named in a civil lawsuit alleging that he, alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs, raped a 13-year-old girl in 2000.

The suit, filed by an anonymous Jane Doe, claims the incident occurred following an afterparty for the MTV Music Video Awards. Initially filed in October with Combs as the sole defendant, the suit has now been amended to include Carter, NBC News reports.

In a strongly-worded statement issued on Sunday, Carter, 55, denied the allegations outright, describing them as “fraudulent” and accusing the plaintiff’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of attempting to extort him.

“My solicitor received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a ‘solicitor’ named Tony Buzbee,” Carter wrote in a public statement. “What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle. No, sir, it had the opposite effect!”

Buzbee, representing the anonymous claimant, rejected Carter’s accusations of extortion and clarified that his client sought only a confidential mediation.

“Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this claimant,” Mr Buzbee stated on social media, adding that the claimant was “emboldened” despite the backlash.

Regarding the Jay Z case and his efforts to silence my clients: Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. He filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of…

— Tony Buzbee (@TonyBuzbee2) December 9, 2024

The new claim emerges amid major legal troubles for Combs, who was arrested in September on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn and is due to stand trial in May 2025.

In November 2023, singer Cassie Ventura, Combs’ former partner, accused him of physical abuse, rape, and sex trafficking in a separate lawsuit. That case was privately settled just one day after it was filed.

Carter’s statement, released in full on Sunday, vehemently denied the allegations and criticised Mr Buzbee for what he characterised as exploiting serious claims for personal gain. “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,” Carter wrote.

Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z attend the European Premiere of Disney's The Lion King in 2019. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Carter, who is married to the pop superstar Beyoncé, added: “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people.”