Jay-Z’s attorney says rape claim against him is made up: ‘This never happened’

CNN

By Elizabeth Wagmeister and Lauren del Valle, CNN

(CNN) — Jay-Z’s lawyer Alex Spiro told reporters in New York on Monday that allegations from a woman who has accused the hip-hop mogul of sexually assaulting her with Sean “Diddy” Combs back in 2000 are untrue.

“This is all a fantasy,” Spiro told reporters, including CNN, at a private meeting held at Jay-Z’s Roc Nation offices in New York City on Monday. “We expect the case to be dismissed. If it’s not, we expect this all to crumble.”

Spiro showed a Powerpoint presentation to a small room of reporters, walking through the timeline of the allegations from the accuser’s lawsuit that he said are demonstrably false.

“None of the details are right because this never happened,” Spiro said. “When something isn’t real and when something doesn’t happen, you’re going to get the details wrong because you weren’t really there.”

In an amended complaint filed by the woman as Jane Doe, she accused Jay-Z of raping her at an afterparty for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, when she 13. Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, was previously unnamed in her original complaint, which was initially filed in October against Combs.

Carter denied her allegations immediately when the amended complaint was filed.

Spiro’s presentation to reporters was made days after Doe admitted in an interview with NBC News that there are inconsistencies in her original story, including key corroborating witnesses, while maintaining her rape accusation against Carter.

“I have made some mistakes,” Doe told the outlet. “You should always advocate for yourself and be a voice for yourself. You should never let what somebody else did ruin or run your life. I just hope I can give others the strength to come forward like I came forward.”

“This is not an account of inconsistencies,” Spiro said Monday. “This never happened. This is completely false.”

In Doe’s complaint against Combs and Carter, she said that she was taken to an afterparty after meeting a limo driver, who claimed to work for Combs, outside of Radio City Music Hall, where the MTV event was held. Spiro said that the limousine line was blocked off and guarded by police to prevent public access.

Spiro also showed reporters photographs of Carter, Combs and other celebrities at a VMA afterparty, held at a commercial establishment in New York City. He said Doe’s story was not plausible because of the time it would take to travel from the city to the suburbs, where the alleged party was held.

Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, had previously been accused by Spiro of trying to extort Carter prior to making his name public in the amended filing.

In an email to CNN, Buzbee called Spiro’s accusations regarding him and his client “baseless” and said “courts exist to resolve factual disputes.”

When asked about his vetting process, Buzbee said that four individuals at his firm “interviewed the client and checked details” after Doe’s original case was referred by another firm. Buzbee said that a background check was run on Doe, and his firm “engaged a seasoned investigator to vet some details she disclosed to us.”

“Those results were consistent with what the client had told us,” Buzbee said, adding that his client has signed two separate affidavits.

“Our client remains adamant about her claim,” he told CNN.

‘He’s upset. And he should be upset’

Spiro took aim at Buzbee again on Monday, accusing him of shaking down celebrities, including Carter.

“People like this, they don’t send demand letters out to not get money. This is not for truth and justice. This is for money,” Spiro said.

Spiro told CNN last week that he plans to ask the court to dismiss the case and that he’d seek disciplinary action against Buzbee and his team. Carter is “upset” about the allegations against him brought forth by Buzbee, Spiro said Monday.

“He’s upset that somebody would be allowed to do this, to make a mockery of the system like this. He’s upset that this distracts and dissuades real victims from coming forward,” Spiro said. “He’s upset that his kids and his family have to deal with this. He’s upset. And he should be upset.”

Prior to Buzbee filing Doe’s amended complaint, Carter’s lawyers had filed an extortion suit against Buzbee, claiming that the Houston-based attorney was trying to “shakedown innocent celebrities, politicians, and businesspeople with an army of masked accusers.”

Buzbee told CNN Carter’s extortion case is “utterly frivolous.”

Lawyers for Combs, who has previously denied all civil allegations against him, criticized Buzbee in a statement to CNN.

“This is the beginning of the end of this shameful money grab,” they said.

As for the mounting civil allegations and criminal charges against Combs, Spiro distanced Carter from his case.

“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs. They knew each other professionally for a number years, just like in all professions,” Spiro said. “There is no closer association between any of them. That’s also a matter of fiction. That’s all that there is. He doesn’t know anything about the charges or allegations against him. He has nothing to do with that case and there’s nothing more to say.”

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CNN’s Alli Rosenbloom contributed to this report.