Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of raping 13-year-old girl in 2000

Jay-Z, aka Shawn Carter, was named in a civil lawsuit accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The lawsuit was first filed by a Jane Doe in October of this year and had originally listed Combs as the defendant alongside an anonymous celebrity. On Sunday, December 8, the lawsuit was refiled to name Carter as well. The suit claims Combs and Carter raped Jane Doe in 2000 at an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards, held that year in New York.

She claimed that Carter and Combs both raped her at the party after she drank something that left her feeling “woozy and lightheaded”. The woman says she escaped the attack by hitting Combs in the neck and running to a nearby petrol station, where she was collected by her father.

Carter has denied the allegations in an impassioned response shared online. In a statement posted on Roc Nation's social media channels, he called the lawsuit "blackmail" and claimed attorney Tony Buzbee was attempting to force him to settle out of court.

“You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same. I’m not from your moral world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn,” Carter wrote. “We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”

Responding to Carter, Buzbee wrote on social media that the rapper had sued him after he first contacted his representatives to seek mediation in the case. “My firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him," Buzbee wrote. "Instead, she only sought 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 plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”

Combs is currently in jail awaiting trial on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He has been denied bail three times and will remain incarcerated until May 5, 2025. If convicted of the racketeering charge he faces a possible life sentence.