Jay-Z is escalating his legal battle against a woman who had previously accused him of rape, despite her decision to drop the lawsuit earlier this year. The rapper has filed an updated defamation lawsuit, accusing the woman, known as Jane Doe, of continuing to publicly support her allegations through social media, despite withdrawing her legal claim. The new legal filing highlights a TikTok video posted by Doe in April, where she lip-syncs to a clip saying, “You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to get an apology video out of me, I stand on what I said, f*** you.” Jay-Z’s legal team argues that the video shows a blatant disregard for the truth and an intent to harm his reputation, despite the lawsuit being dropped.
Doe initially accused Jay-Z and music mogul Sean Diddy Combs of raping her after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, but she later dropped the lawsuit, citing fear of retaliation from the powerful figures involved. However, she has not retracted her accusations.
In addition to suing Doe, Jay-Z’s legal team is now focusing on her attorney, Tony Buzbee. The lawsuit claims that Buzbee’s law firm edited Wikipedia pages over 100 times to improve his online presence while attempting to damage Jay-Z’s reputation and that of his company, Roc Nation. Buzbee dismissed the allegations, calling them absurd and stating he had no involvement with the edits.
The case continues to unfold in the public eye, with both parties intensifying their claims beyond the courtroom.
