Jay-Z rape accuser breaks silence in NBC interview; Rapper responds: ‘This incident didn’t happen’
The woman accusing Jay-Z and Diddy of sexual assault sat down with NBC News for an exclusive interview.
The Alabama woman who claims Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her nearly 25 years ago has broken her silence during an interview with NBC News addressing the allegations. The unnamed woman shared her story, acknowledging it has many inconsistencies — details her legal team also acknowledges. Nevertheless, the woman remains steadfast in her claims.
Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, who swiftly and publicly denied the sexual assault allegations earlier this week, responded to the woman’s most recent allegations to NBC.
“You should always fight for what happened to you,” the Jane Doe accuser told the publication. “You should always advocate for yourself and be a voice for yourself. You should never let what somebody else did ruin or run your life. I just hope I can give others the strength to come forward like I came forward.”
In what she called a “catastrophic event,” Doe, who is now 38, recalls the night of the alleged assault, which she says happened when she was 13, trying to attend the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Living in Rochester, New York, at the time, the accuser explained how she snuck out of her parents’ home to attend the awards ceremony taking place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Though she received a ride from a friend to the venue, Doe did not have a ticket for the event. While watching snippets of the award show outside on the jumbotron, she began conversing with limo drivers who were parked outside the venue.
“I’m trying to get in to try to stay back and get to an after-party and get invited in and meet some celebrities,” she told NBC News.
According to the lawsuit, one driver said he worked for Combs and determined that she “fit what Diddy was looking for.” She then recalls being taken to an after-party at a “large white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway,” where she allegedly signed a document that she did not read. While conversing with stars like Fred Durst and Benji Madden, the victim says she accepted a drink from a waitress, which she said made her feel “funny” and want to lie down.
The lawsuit claims that shortly after Doe found an empty room, Combs, Carter, and an unnamed woman entered the room. After Combs declared, “You are ready to party!” the victim alleges both rappers proceeded to rape her.
“Jay-Z comes over, holds me down. I start trying to push away. He puts his hand over my mouth, tells me to stop it, to cut the shit and then he rapes me like he had me overpowered,” she alleged.
Following the alleged assault, the lawsuit says Doe fled the house, running to a gas station where she called her father to pick her up.
“I called my dad because he was the only person I trust[ed] at that time. I told him I messed up, and I needed a ride home,” she explained in her interview. “We rode home in silence. He didn’t ask me what happened. He didn’t ask me what I did or where I was.”
Though the female accuser remains steadfast in her claims, there have been some inconsistencies, which she acknowledges as “some mistakes” in her recollection of that night.
First, Doe stated that her father picked her up after the alleged rape, but he does not recall that. Similarly, one of the celebrities the accuser claims to have spoken to that night says he was not in New York at that time. And though their whereabouts for the entire night were unclear, photos show Combs and Carter at different locations than the one described in the claim.
Both Jay-Z and Diddy have strongly denied the allegations, with their attorneys calling the case “false” and a “shameful money grab.” In a statement to NBC News, Jay-Z said, “This incident didn’t happen, and yet [Tony Buzbee, Jane Doe’s attorney] filed it in court and doubled down in the press. True Justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over before it began. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t realize it yet, but, soon.”
Jay-Z’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, defended his client, saying: “It is stunning that a lawyer would not only file such a serious complaint without proper vetting but would make things worse by further peddling this false story in the press. We are asking the Court to dismiss this frivolous case today and will take up the matter of additional discipline for Mr. Buzbee and all the lawyers that filed the complaint.”
However, Buzbee, the lawyer who has filed over 20 lawsuits against Combs, including this one, says he is still vetting Jane Doe’s claims.
“Jane Doe’s case was referred to our firm by another, who vetted it prior to sending it to us. Our client remains fiercely adamant that what she has stated is true to the best of her memory,” said Buzbee. “We will continue to vet her claims and collect corroborating data to the extent it exists. Because we have interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to submit to a polygraph. I’ve never had a client suggest that before.”
“In any event,” he added, “we always do our best to vet each claim made, just as we did in this case. This has been extremely distressing for her, to the point she has experienced seizures and had to seek medical treatment due to the stress.”
The alleged victim told NBC News that she never told anyone about the incident. In the years that followed, she says she “got severely depressed” and “withdrew completely,” eventually dropping out of school and allegedly experiencing homelessness and a head injury at one point.
“Even if somebody found out, who was gonna believe me?” she added. “I mean, it was the word of two celebrities against mine.”
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