A woman who had accused Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z of raping her at a house party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000 dropped her lawsuit against the two men on Friday.
Court papers filed in New York federal court on Friday said the suit had been “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.” It cannot be refiled. The new filing comes months after attorneys for Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, asked a judge to scrap the complaint, citing inconsistencies in the woman’s story.
The hip-hop mogul’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a statement that the “false case” against Jay-Z “never should have been brought.” He added that his client had not paid the accuser to settle the case.
“By standing up in the face of heinous and false allegations, Jay has done what few can — he pushed back, he never settled, he never paid one red penny, he triumphed and cleared his name,” Spiro said.
The lawsuit was initially filed against Combs in October, accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl at a house party following the star-studded music awards. In December, the complaint was amended to add Jay-Z as a defendant. The complaint alleged that the two men took turns assaulting her, which Jay-Z and Combs have repeatedly denied.
Jay-Z said in a statement Friday that the allegations in the suit were “frivolous, fictitious and appalling.”
“This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere,” he said. “The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
His statement went on to say that an NBC News investigation in December found inconsistencies in the plaintiff’s story:
“The plaintiff originally told NBC News that she spoke with musician Benji Madden at the after party where the alleged assault took place, but a representative for Benji and his brother Joel confirmed to the publication that neither of the brothers attended the 2000 VMAs because they were on tour in the Midwest. Furthermore, the plaintiff said her father picked her up after the alleged assault, but he denied her account, telling NBC News that he ‘cannot verify the claims.’”
Jay-Z’s statement continued: “The plaintiff’s fabricated lies further unraveled after she indicated that she watched the 2000 Video Music Awards show on a jumbotron outside of Radio City Music Hall. However, according to the New York Police Department, there was no permit issued for a jumbotron that year. She also said she ‘stumbled’ upon a limousine despite the fact that the limousine area was blocks away from the venue.”
A sprawling federal indictment alleges Combs used his power for decades to coerce victims into sex in gatherings known as “freak-offs.” Combs, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested last September after nearly a year of investigations by federal authorities. He remains in custody in Brooklyn awaiting trial.
There have been suggestions that other big names will be swept into the scandal. But federal prosecutors have not named any co-conspirators or said that any of Combs’ alleged victims were minors.
The lawsuit that was dropped Friday was one of 40 civil suits filed against Combs, but was the only one to name an A-list alleged accomplice. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who has filed more than two dozen lawsuits against Combs, including the one just dismissed, declined to comment.
Attorneys for Combs said in a statement that the dismissal was “another confirmation that these lawsuits are built on falsehoods, not facts.”
“Sean Combs has never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,” the statement said. “No number of lawsuits, sensationalized allegations, or media theatrics will change that reality.”
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