By PHILIP MARCELO
NEW YORK (AP) — The rapper Jay-Z says a rape allegation made against him is part of an extortion attempt.
A woman who previously sued Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging she was raped at an awards show after-party in 2000 when she was 13, amended the lawsuit Sunday to include a new allegation that Jay-Z was also at the party and participated in the sexual assault.
Jay-Z called the allegations “idiotic” and “heinous in nature” in a statement released by one of his companies. He also revealed that he had anonymously sued the woman’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, in California, alleging Buzbee was trying to blackmail him by threatening to make the rape allegation public if he didn’t agree to a legal settlement.
Jay-Z said a letter his lawyer received from Buzbee appeared to seek a settlement but had the “opposite effect.”
“It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion,” his statement read. “So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
The litigation is part of a wave of sexual assault lawsuits levied against Combs as the hip-hop mogul remains in custody in New York awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The woman, who is not named in the suit, says she was hanging around Radio City Music Hall during the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards and managed to talk a limousine driver into bringing her to a celebrity-studded party at a private residence after the event.
She said that while she was in the limousine, she was asked to sign a nondisclosure document. Once at the party, the lawsuit said, she took a drink that made her feel “woozy and lightheaded” and went into a bedroom to lay down.
She said that Combs and Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, then barged into the room along with another unnamed celebrity and raped her.
Buzbee, a personal injury lawyer in Houston, Texas, announced at a news conference in October that he represents some 120 people — both men and women — with allegations of sexual misconduct against Combs.
His firm, which has set up a 1-800 number for accusers, began filing a wave of suits against the hip-hop mogul a few weeks later.
Combs’ attorneys at the time denied the allegations, and criticized the press conference and hotline as “clear attempts to garner publicity.”