In the lull between the Beyoncé dominated Grammys of February 2 and Kendrick Lamar‘s Roc Nation produced half time show at Super Bowl LIX on February 9, Jay-Z is making some shifts in strategy in the hopes of getting tossed out claims that the Big Pimpin rapper, the incarcerated Sean “Diddy” Combs and a currently unidentified female “Celebrity B” repeatedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
As anticipated by the December 30 letter that Alex Spiro, the long time lawyer for Shawn Carter (Jay-Z’s real name), sent to Judge Analisa Torres, February 4 saw a formal motion to dismiss the first amended complaint by the Tony Buzbee represented Jane Doe. If that effort to see the festering matter kicked to the curb wasn’t much of a surprise, what came today certainly was.
“We write on behalf of Defendant Shawn Carter to respectfully request that Mr. Carter’s Motion for Sanctions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 be withdrawn at this time, without prejudice,” declared a one-page letter from the Quinn Emanuel partner to Judge Torres this morning over the Texas-based Buzbee. “We have discussed this matter with counsel for Plaintiff who consents to this submission and agrees the withdrawal is without prejudice,” the short correspondence adds, noting that the barrage against Buzbee, who represents dozens and dozens of clients in civil cases accusing the much accused Combs of rape, battery, abuse and more in decades of so-called freak-offs and attacks.
That’s a Hell of a departure from January 29 and what Spiro wrote in a reply memorandum of law for monetary sanctions then.
“Mr. Carter seeks only to hold Mr. Buzbee to the ethical standards that constrain any responsible attorney who would solemnly sign his name to allegations in court,” Spiro said just 15 days ago, blasting Buzbee has not investigating his own case or clients’s tale, and supposedly not even meeting with Jane Doe before taking her explosive case on. “Without such guardrails on litigation, there is obvious, worrisome risk: Someone in Mr. Buzbee’s position could level reputation-destroying allegations indiscriminately in court, with an eye towards leveraging them in sensationalist fashion outside of court, without ever properly inquiring into their truth or facing accountability.
Coming a week after the combative Spiro barreled through cautionary roadblocks over the past months that Judge Torres put in his path, and officially placed a motion for sanctions against the equally bare knuckled Buzbee for a “lack of diligence,” Wednesday’s 180 puts this very high profile case in somewhat uncharted territory with the sheer scale of contempt and mockery the rival lawyers have made no secret to even pretend to hide about their feelings for each other.
To that, neither Spiro’s office nor Buzbee’s returned Deadline’s request for comment on the sudden move. If either of them do, this post will be updated.
In a matter than could be before the courts by the time Super Bowl LX in the Bay Area’s Levi’s Stadium comes round, this case is starting to butt up against the May 5 start of Diddy’s criminal trial on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution If found guilty in that sure to be heavily covered trial, the not guilty pleading 55-year-old Bad Boy Records founder, who has been sued for yet more past alleged assaults in just the past few days, could spend the rest of his life in federal prison – none of which would bode well for Jay-Z.
Specific to this case, the rape of the then teen Jane Doe is said to have occurred on September 7, 2000 during one of Diddy’s drug fueled parties just after that year’s MTV VMAs. A very graphic October 20 filed lawsuit from Buzbee named the ‘All About the Benjamins’ performer for the rape, but only mentioned as accomplices a male “Celebrity A” and a female “Celebrity B.” Jay-Z was named as the “Celebrity A” in a December 8 refiling by Buzbee following a separate suit from a Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous “celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles” (who was later revealed to clearly be Jay-Z) that went after the Texas lawyer for extortion.
Jay-Z has denied anything to do with the rape over 24 years ago and has let Spiro loose to rip at inconsistencies in the now middle aged Jane Doe’s story from a mid-December NBC interview and more. As well, the superstar defendant has attempted unsuccessfully to see the plaintiff’s real name revealed, and, of course, see Buzbee punished — also an unsuccessful endeavor.
Aside from that, and the withdrawing of potential sanctions against Buzbee, the grind was back on by the defense to get the Jane Doe case off track. After failing on several previous occasions to get the “heinous” allegations (in Jay-Z’s own December 8 words) thrown out, Spiro today took yet another expected swing at a dismissal. Listing out a number of arguments that he’s put forth before for his client over the past two months, Spiro pulled out the calendar, as well as geography as his weapons of choice to secure a hearing ASAP before the end of March to get the case truly tossed out:
“Plaintiff’s sole claim—a violation of the GMVPA—fails as a matter of law because the alleged assault purportedly occurred in September 2000, three months before the statute was enacted,” Spiro notes of New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, in tones very similar to how he first got charges against Alex Baldwin dropped in 2022 over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of indie Western Rust set in October 2021.
“Nothing in its text or legislative history reflects any intent at all to extend the statute’s reach to conduct predating its enactment, let alone an unequivocal requirement, which is an essential predicate for overcoming the strong presumption against retroactivity,” Spiro goes on to say in the February 4 filing. “Giving it that effect now would violate the Due Process and Ex Post Facto Clauses of the Constitution in light of the statute’s punitive nature. Dismissal with prejudice is therefore warranted.”
Not staying out of the public eye at all since his name was made public in this rape case in late December, Jay-Z was a very upfront presence at the February 2 Grammys in DTLA where Queen Bey snagged a number of trophies including the long coveted Album of the Year for Country Carter. The former Brooklyn Nets co-owner is also expected to be on-site and visible at the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles gridiron match-up in NOLA this weekend as that other big Grammys 2025 winner Kendrick Lamar takes centerstage in the Fox broadcasted Super Bowl’s half time.
Bringing some of the biggest names and some legends in rock, pop and hip-hop to the football fore, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has been behind the big show in the middle of the NFL‘s biggest game since 2019. Backing Jay-Z heartily on December 11, the Roger Goodell-run league and the rapper extended their deal late last year – with no details provided.