An unidentified woman who accused Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z of sexual assault at a Manhattan house party when she was 13 years old has dropped her lawsuit as of Friday.
Referred to as Jane Doe, she informed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that she is voluntarily dismissing her lawsuit against Combs and Jay-Z, also known as Shawn Carter, as per the filing obtained by JS. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning she cannot refile it.
Doe was one of over a hundred individuals represented by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee who have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Combs. Combs has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to numerous ongoing lawsuits and a federal sex trafficking case. Doe’s lawsuit was the only one to name Carter as well, who vehemently denied the accusations and accused Buzbee of trying to extort him.
According to the amended complaint in the lawsuit, the woman alleges that she was given a spiked drink at an afterparty in New York City following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. After becoming intoxicated, Carter and Combs allegedly took turns sexually assaulting her while an unidentified female celebrity looked on. At the time, she was 13 years old, while Carter and Combs would have been in their early 30s.
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Buzbee and the law firm representing Doe did not immediately respond to questions from JS regarding the dropped lawsuit on Friday.
Meanwhile, Carter labeled the lawsuit as “baseless” and hailed the dismissal as a triumph in a statement shared on X, formerly Twitter.
“The fabricated narrative they constructed was absurd, were it not for the gravity of the allegations,” Carter expressed. “I wouldn’t wish this ordeal on anyone. The distress that my wife, children, and I have endured cannot be overlooked.”
The rapper proceeded to criticize Buzbee, stating that “the system has let us down.”
“This 1-800 attorney gets to file a lawsuit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they realize that their money-making scheme is failing, they can simply walk away without consequences,” Carter remarked. “The court must protect victims, OF COURSE, while also upholding the same ethical obligation to safeguard the innocent from baseless accusations.”
Combs’ legal counsel did not respond immediately to JS’s inquiries on Friday.
Need assistance? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.