Jay-Z is trying a different tack after a judge ruled that the woman suing him can remain anonymous.
According to Rolling Stone and Deadline, the rap mogul’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, filed new paperwork on Monday, December 30, seeking to challenge a lawsuit accusing Jay-Z of rape because the alleged assault is said to have taken place months before a December 2000 law offering civil recourse for victims of gender-motivated violence came into effect. In December 2022, the New York City Council amended the law to allow a two-year window for people to come forward with historical claims that might have otherwise passed the statute of limitations.
“Plaintiff cannot recover for her sole claim under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act (the GMV Law), as a matter of law, because the statute does not have retroactive effect,” Spiro wrote in a letter to Judge Analisa Torres, per Deadline.
He continued, “Plaintiff asserts a violation of the GMV Law for conduct that purportedly occurred in September 2000. But the GMV Law was not enacted until December 19, 2000, three months after the FAC claims the conduct occurred, and cannot apply retroactively to create a cause of action unavailable to Plaintiff at the time in question.”
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Jay-Z’s accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” claimed she was raped by the rapper and fellow musician Sean “Diddy” Combs at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000. She said she was 13 at the time. (Both Jay-Z and Diddy have denied the allegations.)
Last week, Judge Torres said in court documents obtained by TMZ that Jane Doe can remain unnamed after Jay-Z’s lawyer filed to have the case dismissed and Doe’s identity revealed. However, the judge noted the circumstances could change as the case moves forward. Torres stated she intends to revisit the issue if and when the case progresses.
Torres also accused Spiro of being combative and trying to “fast-track” the case, per the outlet.
Attorney Tony Buzbee, who is representing Doe, said in a statement to Us Weekly, “I don’t typically comment on court rulings. I will say that the coordinated and desperate efforts to attack me as counsel for alleged victims are falling flat.”
Buzbee and Jay-Z are also locked in their own legal battle. Jay-Z — real name Shawn Carter — is suing Buzbee, accusing him of extortion and defamation. Buzbee filed his own suit against Jay-Z’s Roc Nation earlier this month, alleging the company bribed his clients to file suits against his firm, threatened former clients and impersonated state officials. (Roc Nation called the lawsuit “baloney.”)
