NEW YORK (AP) — An attorney defending Jay-Z against the rape allegation brought against him last week by an unnamed woman outlined a range of evidence Monday that he said showed the accuser’s account to be “provably, demonstrably false.”
The woman told NBC News last week that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs sexually assaulted her in 2000, when she was 13, at an after-party for the MTV Music Awards. She has since acknowledged certain inconsistencies in her story.
Speaking to reporters at Roc Nation’s New York headquarters, Jay-Z’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said the woman’s claim relied on an “impossible timeline” and a nonexistent location. While the lawsuit said the assault happened at a “large white residence with a U-shaped driveway,” photos show both Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, and Combs at a nightclub following the award show.
In the suit, the woman said she snuck out of a window of her home in Rochester and hitched a ride to the award ceremony from a friend, who has since died. She said she watched the event on a jumbotron outside, then befriended a limousine driver who drove her to the house party where she was assaulted by the two rap moguls.
Following the alleged rape, she said she fled the house and called her father for a ride home from a nearby gas station.
The allegation, Spiro said, “defies credibility.” It would’ve taken her five hours to drive from Rochester, the lawyer noted, meaning she would’ve had to leave her home by 3 p.m. Permits and photographs show there was no jumbotron outside the VMAs in 2000, according to Spiro. The woman’s father has said he does not recall driving from Rochester to pick her up in New York City.
“It’s not just that this story is a lie and that it’s not true, it’s provably, demonstrably false,” Spiro said. “This never happened.”
The suit comes amid a wave of sexual assault lawsuits levied against Combs, who remains in custody in New York awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty and faces trial in May.
The lawsuits were filed on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law permitting victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations.
After initially suing Combs, the woman’s complaint was amended to include a new allegation that Jay-Z also participated in the sexual assault as a third unnamed celebrity watched.
The litigation was filed by Tony Buzbee, a personal injury attorney in Houston whose firm has set up a toll-free phone line for accusers. In October, Buzbee said he was representing some 120 people, men and women, with allegations of sexual misconduct against Combs.
Last month, Jay-Z anonymously sued Buzbee, alleging the lawyer had attempted to blackmail him by making the rape allegation public if he did not agree to a legal settlement. Buzbee has said the letter was simply trying to set up a confidential mediation session.
In a statement last week, Jay-Z said his “heart and support goes out to true victims in the world.”
On Monday, Spiro accused Buzbee of “taking advantage” of the woman, while “destroying this opportunity and the voices of real victims.”
In an emailed statement Monday, Buzbee said the woman had been referred to him by another law firm and vetted by four attorneys from his firm.
“Courts exist to resolve factual disputes,” Buzbee added. “Our client remains adamant about her claim.”
