The Diddy sexual assault lawsuit that named Jay-Z as a co-defendant has been voluntarily dismissed by the woman who filed it. That, says Jay-Z in a statement, is a “victory”, however, “the trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed”.
Referencing the toll free phone line set up by his anonymous accuser’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, to sign up clients with allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Jay-Z’s statement continues disparagingly, “This 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realise that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions”.
The fact that can happen, he adds, means “the system has failed”. While the courts must “OF COURSE” protect victims, he goes on, they must also “protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence”.
The woman in this case claimed she was raped by both Combs and Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, at an MTV VMAs after show party in 2000 when she was just thirteen years old.
It was one of a number of Buzbee-led sexual assault lawsuits filed against Combs. Carter has been scathing of Buzbee ever since he was added as a co-defendant on the case, insisting that his accuser’s allegations “strain the outer bounds of credulity”, so much so the attorney should never have filed the lawsuit.
He even tried to have Buzbee sanctioned by the courts on the basis that the lawyer had a legal obligation to undertake due diligence to assess his client’s allegations before filing the lawsuit, and that he had failed to meet that obligation. Carter dropped his motion for sanctions earlier this month, but continued to push for the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
That won’t be necessary now that his accuser has voluntarily dismissed her legal action with prejudice, which means she can’t file future proceedings on the same claims. Although the accuser’s court filing stated that the dismissal had been acknowledged and approved by the defendants in the case, legal reps for Carter were keen to stress that no financial settlement had been entered into.
Alex Spiro of law firm Quinn Emanuel confirmed to media that there had been no monetary settlement in exchange for the dismissal, adding, “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”.
A legal rep for Combs also welcomed the dismissal of this lawsuit. The musician is currently battling dozens of sexual assault lawsuits as well as criminal proceedings having been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering. His lawyer said that this now dismissed lawsuit is the “first of many that will not hold up in a court of law”.
“Sean Combs has never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone - man or woman, adult or minor”, they added. “No number of lawsuits, sensationalised allegations or media theatrics will change that reality”.