A judge in Los Angeles on Monday allowed for the dismissal of a months-old lawsuit filed by Jay-Z, in which the rapper had attempted to sue a lawyer he said had tried to blackmail him with false claims of sexual misconduct.
In November, lawyers for Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter), brought a suit that accused the lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of extortion, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He sued after Mr. Buzbee, who has filed a number of lawsuits that accuse Sean Combs of sexual assault, reached out to explore a complaint from an anonymous accuser who said that Mr. Carter and Mr. Combs sexually abused her.
Mr. Buzbee subsequently filed suit accusing Mr. Carter of raping the anonymous accuser with Mr. Combs when she was 13.
That lawsuit accusing Mr. Carter of sexual misconduct was later withdrawn by the woman. Now Mr. Carter’s suit against Mr. Buzbee in Los Angeles has been dismissed.
Still ongoing is a separate lawsuit filed by Mr. Carter against Mr. Buzbee in federal court in Alabama, the home state of the anonymous woman who initially sued Mr. Carter on sexual assault grounds.
Mr. Carter’s lawyers have asserted in their filings that the woman and her lawyers knew the allegations they were making were false but proceeded with the claim anyway. In the Los Angeles case, Mr. Carter’s lawyers have said he received a letter from Mr. Buzbee threatening to “immediately file” a “public lawsuit” against him unless he agreed to resolve the matter through mediation for money.
But on Monday, Judge Mark H. Epstein of Superior Court in Los Angeles issued a 65-page order granting a motion to strike Mr. Carter’s lawsuit.
In his order, Judge Epstein characterized it as a difficult case and noted that he had issued a series of tentative decisions that had sometimes varied.
Ultimately, though, the judge wrote, he had “come out on the side of dismissing the action, although the court is not wholly satisfied that this is the outcome that best serves the legislative and constitutional doctrines.”
“This court is only the first stop,” he added. “It will be for the Court of Appeal to determine whether the court got it right or wrong, and whether the suit ought to go forward or ought to end. Stay tuned.”
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Mr. Carter, said he and his team were “surprised and disappointed by this ruling which turns on the misapplication of California law on the admissibility of the investigators’ statements.” He said they plan to appeal immediately.
Mr. Spiro pointed to a section of the judge’s order in which the judge said he could have decided the case differently but he felt some evidence was not admissible.
“What does it say about our justice system if someone can knowingly bring about completely false claims of the most heinous nature imaginable against an innocent individual and get away with it on a technicality?” Mr. Spiro said in a statement.
In an email on Tuesday, Mr. Buzbee said he and his team agreed with the opinion.
“The bottom line is they lose,” he said of Jay-Z and his lawyers. “Sending a demand letter isn’t extortion, period. We will now seek attorneys fees as allowed under California law.”
Matt Stevens is a Times reporter who writes about arts and culture from Los Angeles.
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