Shawn Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z, is fighting back against rape allegations against him.
The attorney for rap mogul Alex Spiro, who previously represented Alec Baldwin in his manslaughter case, held a press conference with hand-picked reporters on December 16 at Roc Nation’s headquarters in New York City. Spiro told reporters there that Carter “did not rape a child” and presented a slideshow that he said showed alleged holes in Carter’s accuser’s story, according to Us Weekly, one of the media outlets present.
An amended civil lawsuit filed on December 8 in the Southern District of New York alleges that Carter, along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, raped a 13-year-old girl at an MTV VMAs after-party in 2000. Both Carter and Combs claimed the allegations denied.
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During the roundtable, Spiro also distanced his client from Combs.
“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs or Mr. Combs’ case,” the lawyer said, according to Us Weekly. “They had known each other professionally for a number of years. Just like in all professions, people know each other. They support each other at the music awards. When you go to the NBA All-Star game, they support each other. That’s just how professions work. There is no closer bond between any of them. That is also a matter of fiction.”
In November 2023, Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against him for rape, abuse and sex trafficking. A day later, Combs settled the lawsuit, admitting no wrongdoing. That opened the door to more than a dozen sexual misconduct lawsuits against Combs — and to federal prosecutors who charged him in September with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has denied the charges, pleaded not guilty and is in jail awaiting trial in May 2025.
Here’s what’s happened since then, including Carter’s involvement that became public this month.
October 20: A civil lawsuit was filed by Jane Doe against Combs, alleging that he and another male celebrity (identified as “Celebrity A”) raped her when she was 13, while an unidentified female celebrity (“Celebrity B”) watched . The Alabama woman said the alleged attack occurred at a 2000 MTV VMAs after-party held at a white house, a 20-minute limousine ride from New York’s Radio City Music Hall. She said she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to join the party and believes she was drugged with a drink spiked with liquor.
Combs denied the allegations.
November 18: An anonymous celebrity has filed a lawsuit against Texas attorney Tony Buzbee — who represents numerous people who claim to have been victims of Combs, including Doe — accusing him of an extortion scheme designed to destroy his reputation.
December 8: Doe’s lawsuit was refiled and Carter was publicly identified as ‘Celebrity A’.
Carter denied the “heinous” and “idiotic” allegations in a statement on the Roc Nation X account. He claimed that Buzbee tried to ‘blackmail’ him into reaching an out-of-court settlement.
Buzbee revealed that Carter was the anonymous celebrity who sued him in November after sending the rapper a demand letter asking him to mediate privately.
Carter’s attorney Spiro called the lawsuit a “vast extortion saga” in a court filing. He said Carter was targeted to “enforce the payment of an exorbitant amount of money” – “millions” – and when he “refused to pay,” Doe’s amended lawsuit was filed and the “patently false” and “ unfounded” accusations made public.
December 9: Spiro filed to dismiss the case or identify Doe. In court documents, he wrote: “To be clear, Mr. Carter is completely innocent. This is a shake-down.”
Carter attended the Mufasa premiere in Los Angeles, where he presents a united front with his wife Beyoncé, their daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who appears in the film, and his mother-in-law, Tina Knowles. They did not answer questions from reporters.
Carter with Tina Knowles, Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy Carter at the world premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King in Hollywood on December 9. (Lisa O’Connor/AFP via Getty Images)
December 13: Doe gave an interview to NBC News detailing her allegations.
The outlet reported that there were inconsistencies in Doe’s story, including that she said she spoke to Benji Madden at the afterparty. Madden’s rep said he was on tour with his band Good Charlotte in the Midwest at the time.
Doe also said that a friend from Rochester, N.Y., drove her to Radio City in Manhattan, a five-hour drive, in hopes of taking in the VMAs. After the alleged attack, she called her father to pick her up. Doe’s father told NBC News he doesn’t remember making a 10-hour round trip to pick her up. Additionally, NBC News obtained footage from the night in question that shows Carter and Combs at a New York club for an after-party, but the outlet noted that it is unclear if they went anywhere else that night.
“I made some mistakes,” Doe told the outlet of her memories from 24 years ago, but she stands firmly by her rape allegations.
Doe also told NBC News that she has autism and has previously suffered a head injury.
Carter told NBC News: “This incident has not yet occurred [Buzbee] filed it with the court and received a lot of press attention. True justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over before it started. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t realize it yet, but soon he will.”
Buzbee said, “Doe’s case was referred to our firm by another person, who vetted the case before sending it to us. Our client remains adamant that what she has stated is true, to the best of her recollection. We will continue to investigate her claims and gather supporting data where it exists. Because we interviewed her intensively, she even agreed to submit to a lie detector. I’ve never had that from a customer before.”
December 14: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the allegations against Carter will not affect the league’s relationship with him or the mogul’s involvement in the Super Bowl halftime show. Since 2019, Carter has partnered with the NFL through his Roc Nation company to produce musical performances at major NFL events and amplify the league’s social justice efforts. The deal was extended in October.
December 16: Carter’s attorney Spiro invited members of the press to a roundtable discussion at Roc Nation’s headquarters in New York City and gave a presentation with slides detailing the alleged holes in the accuser’s story, according to Us Weekly, which covered the topic .
“It is clear to everyone that Mr. Carter did not do this,” Spiro told reporters. “It’s clear that Jay-Z didn’t rape a child. But what I want to do today is walk you through some of these so that you can see the truth and see for yourself what happened.
He said Doe’s lawsuit is “beginning to unravel and the truth is coming out.”
Spiro also said Carter had nothing more than a cordial professional relationship with Combs and “no closer bond.” Furthermore, Carter knows “nothing about the charges or accusations against him [Combs]. He has nothing to do with that case and there is nothing more to say.”
Spiro also promised that “dozens and dozens of people” will come forward to say “there was no party at the ‘white house’” as Doe claimed.
Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs at Combs’s 2000 Fourth of July party in East Hampton, NY (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Spiro told reporters that Carter is “angry” about the allegations. ‘He is angry that someone would be allowed to do this, that he would make a fool of the system in this way. He is angry that this distracts and deters real victims from coming forward. He is angry that his children and his family have to deal with this. He’s angry and he should be angry.”
Buzbee released a statement to Us Weekly after the press event, saying: “This client has been signed and referred to our firm by another law firm. That law firm drafted the first complaint. However, four individuals from our firm also interviewed the client and checked the details after the referral was accepted. A background check was conducted on the client. We also brought in a seasoned investigator to look into some of the details she revealed to us. Those results matched what the customer told us.”
Buzbee also said at least three attorneys from his firm interviewed Doe before filing the amended complaint naming Carter. She has signed two separate affidavits and is adamant about her claim. He also called Spiro a “bully.”
