Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs were accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards
Jay-Z issues scathing denial to allegations he sexually assaulted 13-year-old girl
Criminal defense attorney Lexie Rigden reacts to the musicians strong denial of a 24-year-old lawsuit involving Sean Diddy Combs and expresses concern over ongoing jury deliberations in the Daniel Penny trial.
Jay-Z’s accuser is heard on tape saying that her previous sexual assault allegations against the rapper were false.
The accuser, Jane Doe, previously said Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs sexually assaulted her after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards when she was 13 years old.
In a taped conversation heard by Fox News Digital, Jay-Z’s sexual assault accuser claimed her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, pressured her into suing the rapper.
Jay-Z’s sexual assault accuser is heard on tape claiming her lawyer pushed her to sue the rapper. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
"But Jay-Z … you’re saying he was definitely there? But he had no part in it?" one private investigator said in the recording heard by Fox News Digital.
"He was there," Doe replied.
A second private investigator asked, "He was just there, but he didn’t have anything to do with any sexual acts towards you, it was strictly …"
"Yeah," Doe said.
The accuser is also heard saying her attorney put her up to suing the A-list rapper.
"He was the one that kind of pushed me towards going forward with him, with Jay-Z," Doe remarked.
Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs, right, were both named in Jane Doe's sexual assault lawsuit. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage for Bad Boy Entertainment)
The second private investigator asked, "With Jay-Z? Buzbee did?"
Doe replied, "Yeah."
"Do you know why?" the first private investigator asked.
"No," the accuser answered.
During an interview with "Good Morning America," Jay-Z’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, said "the tape speaks for itself."
"[Doe] says in no uncertain terms, Mr. Carter did not do this. It is effectively a lie, and the only reason Mr. Carter is even involved in this is because she was pushed to involve him, pushed to include him by a lawyer."
JAY-Z, SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSER DROPS LAWSUIT
However, Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, called it a "blatant lie," and provided "GMA" with a recorded phone call with his client.
"They say they have you on tape denying that Jay-Z assaulted you? Is that true?" Buzbee is heard saying on the call.
"No. No. I don’t – I’ve never said that," Doe replied.
"[Doe] says in no uncertain terms, Mr. Carter did not do this. It is effectively a lie, and the only reason Mr. Carter is even involved in this is because she was pushed to involve him, pushed to include him by a lawyer."
— Alex Spiro, Jay-Z's lawyer
Jane Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, called it a "blatant lie" that he pushed the accuser to sue Jay-Z. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc)
Buzbee continued, "Okay, they also say that you told them, and they have it on tape, that I, Tony Buzbee, told you to – like came up with this plan and told you to say that Jay-Z assaulted you so you would get more money?"
"No," Doe answered.
"I spoke to Jane Doe immediately after being contacted by ABC," Buzbee said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "She has not admitted she lied. The opposite is true. Her position is very clear and has never changed. The tape is a fabrication."
"The investigators tormented and harassed and tricked that poor woman and took what she said out of context and secretly recorded her. She stands by her claim that Jay-Z was there at the party and that [he] assaulted her. She has never wavered on that point, not once."
"The investigators tormented and harassed and tricked that poor woman and took what she said out of context and secretly recorded her. She stands by her claim that Jay-Z was there at the party and that [he] assaulted her. She has never wavered on that point, not once."
— Tony Buzbee, Jane Doe's attorney
Doe's lawsuit against Jay-Z and Combs was dropped on Feb. 14. Her attorneys, Buzbee and Antigone Curis, said in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital that the plaintiff "hereby gives notice that the above-captioned Action is voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice."
Jay-Z filed a lawsuit against the accuser and her lawyers on March 3. The lawsuit was filed in federal court for the Southern District of Alabama.
On Monday, Buzbee told Fox News Digital that Jay-Z and his team had been attempting to intimidate Doe for "weeks" to get her to recant her story, and according to Buzbee, Doe "stands by her claims."
"This Alabama filing asserts the same claims as another case Jay-Z’s team pieced together and filed in Los Angeles. Like the case in LA, this new case in Alabama also has no legal merit. Shawn Carter’s investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story."
Sean Combs, left, and Jay-Z both denied the allegations against them. The lawsuit was dropped in February. (Getty Images)
Spiro claimed that nobody "coerced" the accuser or "threatened her in any way, shape or form."
"[Doe] voluntarily met and spoke to [the private investigators], and she told them her truth," Spiro said on "GMA."
Spiro additionally claimed that his client, Jay-Z, had never met the accuser.
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Fox News Digital has learned there was no settlement or out-of-court agreement involved in the dismissal of the case.
"He was clear from the moment this happened, and it's clear from this day he was never going to pay one red penny. It was never going to be anything other than the fight for the truth here," a source close to Jay-Z told Fox News Digital.
Per the lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital, Jane Doe allegedly "voluntarily admitted directly" to Jay-Z's representatives that her accusations of assault were not true. (Photo by Monica Schipper/WireImage)
Per the lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital, Doe allegedly "voluntarily admitted directly" to Jay-Z's representatives that her accusations of assault were not true.
Additionally, per the documents, Jay-Z's legal team denies that Doe and her attorneys -- Buzbee and David Fortney -- advised her to drop the lawsuit a day before she decided to because "it was too dangerous to continue with the case."
The rap mogul issued a statement after Doe withdrew her lawsuit.
"Today is a victory," Jay-Z said in part after the filing. "The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere. The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed."
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A source close to Jay-Z told Fox News Digital that the rapper's wife, Beyoncé, and their three children are "very upset" by the "egregious" allegations.
"Mr. Carter has a daughter the same age [as Jane Doe], and they had to deal with that and the very public life … they have a wonderful life that has now been attacked by somebody for horrible reasons. And that's very complicated. It's complicated for the dad ... he wears that heavily."
A source close to Jay-Z told Fox News Digital that the rapper's wife, mega-pop star Beyoncé, and their three children are "very upset" by the "egregious" allegations. (Getty Images)
"And to watch this unravel, to figure out ... how she was a pawn in this, to then ask her what really happened here and to hear those words. It's very upsetting."
Despite Doe and her attorneys dropping the lawsuit, a source close to Jay-Z shared why the rapper is suing his former accuser for defamation.
"This country has falsely accused people in prison more than any other country in the world," a source shared with Fox News Digital.
Jay-Z has sued Jane Doe and her lawyers and is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages. (AP Images)
"Mr. Carter after spending decades fighting for those things, you're going to get falsely accused, and we're not going to figure out what really happened here? You're all very, very sorely mistaken. So, he has an obligation not just for all the people that rely on him, but for the system itself … once the ultimate truth about everything comes out, he's going to move forward and the system will be better."
The rapper was accused of raping a minor along with Combs at an MTV VMAs after-party in 2000, court documents stated.
Doe's initial lawsuit stated Combs raped the minor while "Celebrity A" and "Celebrity B" watched. Carter was named as "Celebrity A" in the refiled lawsuit.
Jay-Z is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an Entertainment Writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
