Gerrard Kaonga
Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.
Jay-Z is now launching a lawsuit against his accuser and her lawyers after they dropped their case against him.
A woman, who has so far remained anonymous, last year accused hip-hop star Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13.
Plaintiff Jane Doe alleged that Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, carried out the act on her at an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards back in 2000.
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She also claimed that Diddy, real name Sean Combs, also drugged her and raped her.
The lawsuit was initially filed in October against Combs before adding Jay-Z's name in December. Jay-Z and his legal team have repeatedly denied this.
At the time, the artist released a heated statement, which reads in part: "My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from a 'lawyer' named Tony Buzbee.
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"What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle.
"No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!"
The accusations against Jay-Z have since been dropped but the rapper has proceeded with a lawsuit of his own following this news.
On Monday (March 3) Carter filed a lawsuit against the anonymous woman in Alabama, where she lives, as well as her lawyers, Tony Buzbee and David Fortney.
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Carter’s lawsuit claims that the woman admitted to his representatives that she had made up the story.
Carter’s lawyers noted the woman has 'voluntarily admitted directly to representatives of Mr. Carter that the story brought before the world in court and on global television was just that: a false, malicious story.'
The lawsuit also quotes Jane Doe as saying that her lawyer Buzbee had pushed her toward ‘going forward with the false story against Mr. Carter.’
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However, it does not clearly outline how or why the plaintiff made that admission nor who she said this to, according to a report by the New York Times.
In his own statement since the lawsuit was filed, Buzbee has said Jay-Z's suit has ‘no legal merit’ and argues the woman still stands by her account of what happened.
He said: “After speaking with Jane Doe today, it appears that the quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit are completely made up, or they spoke to someone who isn’t Jane Doe.
“This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course. We won’t be bullied or intimidated by frivolous cases.”
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If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org