JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in a new complaint filed in a civil lawsuit. Carter is being accused of participating in a rape with disgraced music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs back in 2000. Combs is currently in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. NPR music correspondent Sidney Madden has been covering the ongoing lawsuits against Combs and has more. And, as a warning, this story contains descriptions of sexual violence. So Sidney, let's get into all of this. What are the details of this allegation?
SIDNEY MADDEN, BYLINE: So first, for some context, right now there's more than two dozen civil suits filed against Diddy, dating back 30 years and alleging sexual misconduct and abuse of power. This latest suit is actually a refiling of one submitted to court back in October in New York City. At the time, an unnamed plaintiff accused Combs of raping her at a mansion afterparty when she was just 13 years old. This allegedly happened after the September 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in New York. The Jane Doe plaintiff claims that, in her lawsuit, when she entered the party, she was instructed to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Then she took a drink and began to feel woozy.
She went to go lay down in a bedroom where she claims Combs and two other unnamed celebrities followed her. That's when she alleges the three people undressed her, and she was, quote, "held down by Celebrity A, a male who vaginally raped her, while Combs and Celebrity B, a female, watched," end quote. Combs, Celebrity A and Celebrity B took turns raping her before she escaped. Now, this lawsuit has been refiled and amended to name Shawn Carter as Celebrity A, and the victim is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages.
SUMMERS: Sidney, I understand that Jay-Z has already responded to the allegations here. What did he say?
MADDEN: Yes. Carter released a statement last night as soon as the news broke. He not only denied these allegations, but he called into question the credibility of the Texas-based lawyer who is bringing the case to court. His name is Tony Buzbee. In the statement, Carter called this whole lawsuit a blackmail attempt, and he called Buzbee an ambulance chaser who is only looking to capitalize off the publicity around Combs' arrest. That was last night. Now, this morning, Carter filed a motion to dismiss the case, and specifically requested that Jane Doe's identity be disclosed to, quote, "properly defend himself against this false claim through the legal process in a more transparent manner." And there was an unnamed celebrity who filed a suit against Buzbee accusing him of extortion back in November. And in a statement to NPR, Jay-Z's reps at his company, Roc Nation, confirmed that Jay-Z, Shawn Carter, is in the process of trying to sue Buzbee for extortion. Buzbee responded to this suit on Twitter, calling it frivolous.
SUMMERS: Got it. I mean, Sidney, this is about more than Shawn Carter or Buzbee. This is just one part of this really tangled web of allegations against Diddy, who is currently in prison, we'll note, in Brooklyn.
MADDEN: Yes. As we've talked about before, Diddy is so influential in the world of music, fashion and media that he's connected to everyone. And Diddy and Jay-Z have worked together since the '90s. NPR reached out to Combs' lawyers for comment. Back in October, they denied this accusation, but they have not yet responded to this updated claim that includes Carter. Combs' trial is scheduled to start in May.
SUMMERS: That was NPR's Sidney Madden. Sidney, thank you.
MADDEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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