A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Jay-Z is the latest celebrity to be named in the web of allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The rapper has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl - along with Combs - at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in the year 2000. The lawsuit is one of more than a dozen filed by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee against Combs. And now Jay-Z is reportedly taking his own legal action against the attorney.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR culture reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has been covering the lawsuits - joins us now. So to be clear, this is not a new lawsuit against Combs. So what's new - that Jay-Z is now being accused of participating in the crimes.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: That's right. So in October, Texas attorney Tony Buzbee announced he had more than 100 victims who had come forward with allegations against Combs. He's filed more than a dozen of those lawsuits already, all of them on behalf of unnamed plaintiffs. One of those lawsuits alleges that in September of 2000, Combs and an unnamed male celebrity raped a 13-year-old girl at the VMAs after-party, while a female celebrity stood by and watched. On Sunday, that lawsuit was amended and refiled to say that Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was the male celebrity who took part in that rape. And I want to reiterate that the allegations against Jay-Z are part of a civil suit filed against Sean Combs. Jay-Z is not facing any criminal charges.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So what's Jay-Z saying, then?
SARMIENTO: So Jay-Z issued a statement to NPR saying that these claims are completely false. He publicly called Buzbee, quote, "an ambulance chaser in a cheap suit" and said that Buzbee attempted to blackmail him to extort settlement money. He also filed a motion for the anonymous lawsuit to be dismissed or for the plaintiff's identity to be disclosed. Jay-Z's reps confirmed to NPR that he is in the process of taking action against Buzbee.
MARTÍNEZ: Tony Buzbee - who is Tony Buzbee? What do we know about him?
SARMIENTO: So Buzbee is known for representing clients in high-profile cases. He was the lawyer for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial. He also represented the women who sued football player Deshaun Watson for sexual misconduct and victims of the Astroworld deadly crowd surge who sued rapper Travis Scott. And it's not just the cases themselves that have garnered a lot of attention. Buzbee has also run for office several times in Texas. He self-funded a run for Houston mayor in 2019, and in 2023, he ran for city council. He ended up losing both of those races. His other professional ventures include property development and a short-lived THC-infused-seltzer company.
MARTÍNEZ: So - wide range of interests for Tony Buzbee. And now he's focused in on filing lawsuits against Sean Combs.
SARMIENTO: Yeah, that seems to be one of the big priorities for the Buzbee firm at the moment. Buzbee has insinuated that other famous celebrities may have been involved in the alleged crimes and may be named in future lawsuits. Here he is on a YouTube stream from that initial press conference in October.
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TONY BUZBEE: The biggest secret in the entertainment industry - that really wasn't a secret at all - has finally been revealed to the world.
SARMIENTO: And again, so far, all of the accusers have remained anonymous, which Carter and Combs' lawyers have taken issue with. Combs' attorneys have denied all of the allegations and have questioned Buzbee's credibility. At the same time, we know Combs is under federal investigation and has been indicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty. He was recently denied bail a third time, so he will remain in custody in a Brooklyn jail while awaiting his May trial for those criminal charges.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR culture reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. Thank you very much.
SARMIENTO: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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