Jay-Z’s lawyer says “dozens and dozens” can refute the rape allegation made against the Roc Nation founder in a lawsuit refiled last weekend to say he and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
Alex Spiro said at a press roundtable held at Roc Nation’s New York offices Monday that “There are dozens and dozens of people that are gonna say there was no party in the ‘white house,’” and further claimed that the home described in the suit does not exist.
Spiro said the 55-year-old Brooklyn-born rapper, born Shawn Carter, “did not rape a child,” and then laid out the alleged inconsistencies in the anonymous accuser’s lawsuit, which was first filed in October. The 38-year-old woman accusing Jay-Z and Combs, also 55, has so far only been identified as Jane Doe.
Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Jay-Z and Sean Combs attend Puffy’s Fourth of July Party at Sean Combs’ House on July 2, 2000 in East Hampton, NY. (Photo by Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Though she acknowledged inconsistencies in her recollection when speaking to NBC News last week, Doe maintains the music moguls raped her at an after-party for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.
The setting of the alleged assault, which she described as a “large white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway,” is among those claims that had yet to be confirmed NBC or Tony Buzbee, who is representing Doe as well as at least 120 alleged victims of Combs.
Spiro said Buzbee, who has himself been accused of sexual assault, “is starting to walk away” from the lawsuit, given his mention last week that the case was referred to his firm by another.
“You can see her now that this is starting to unravel and the truth is coming out,” said Spiro.
Jay-Z promptly denied the “heinous” allegations and his camp maintains that the lawsuit is a money grab.
“This client was signed up and referred to our firm by another firm,” Buzbee said in a statement to Us. “However, four individuals at our firm have also interviewed the client and checked details after accepting the referral.”
In addition to a background check on Doe, Buzbee said his firm has enlisted “a seasoned investigator” to verify her claims, which “were consistent with what the client had told us.”
Though Buzbee said he “offered to sit down to discuss the claims confidentially,” Spiro declined and “chose to file a public lawsuit accusing me personally of extortion.
“He made that claim knowing that we made no demand at all for money and out in the public sphere. That case is utterly frivolous,” said Buzbee.
Currently the subject of mounting sexual assault lawsuits, Combs was arrested in September and is in custody at Brooklyn MDC, awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
