On Thursday, a New York federal judge accepted Jay-Z’s request to file a motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
According to the New York Daily News, Judge Analisa Torres Jay-Z has until February 6 to file the motion to dismiss. The accuser has until the end of February to formally contest the motion, and Jay-Z’s camp must respond by mid-March.
The 37-year-old accuser, only known as “Jane Doe,” claimed Combs also participated in the sexual assault, which allegedly occurred at a MTV Video Music Awards afterparty. She said she felt “woozy” after having a single drink — leading Combs to grab her and say, “You are ready to party!”
The woman said Combs and the male celebrity (now identified as Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter) undressed her before the male celebrity raped her in front of Combs and a female celebrity. Combs allegedly also raped the victim while the two celebrities watched. She said Combs tried to force her to perform oral sex on him but stopped after she hit him in the neck.
The victim in that case is being represented by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who filed multiple lawsuits on behalf of other clients who have accused Combs of sexual assault and rape. The woman filed the lawsuit against Combs and Carter in October.
Last month, Torres ruled against dismissing the lawsuit. She also ruled that Combs and Carter’s accuser can remain anonymous for now, but that could change based on ongoing proceedings and additional evidence.
On September 16, Combs was arrested outside a Manhattan hotel on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has been denied bail twice, as Judge Andrew L. Carter determined he should remain in custody.
Combs’ legal team sought home detention with GPS monitoring. In exchange, they offered to post $50 million bail and to use Combs’ home as collateral.
“The government has proven the defendant is a danger. The bail package is insufficient even on risk of flight,” Carter said while denying Combs’ bail a second time.
In March, federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami. Reports indicated that the raid was connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation that resulted in his arrest months later.
The reported raids also occurred four months after his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May, a video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Ventura at a California hotel in 2016. After the video was released, Combs put out a video expressing remorse for his behavior. That video is mentioned in the criminal charges filed this week against Combs.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
In that case, Gardner claimed Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall drugged and raped her and a friend following an Uptown Records event in 1990. Gardner said she was 16 at the time of the incident. She also accused Combs of choking her a day after the assault.
Days after footage of the 2016 assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a New York Fashion Institute of Technology student who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs of sexually assaulting her on four instances between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Lampros claimed Combs promised to mentor her and connect her with executives in the fashion industry. Instead, Combs allegedly forced her to drink before raping her in a hotel room. Lampros recalled another instance in which Combs forced her to perform oral sex on her in a parking garage while a parking attendant watched.
Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least eight other lawsuits. He has denied those allegations. His federal trial is set to begin in May.
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[Feature Photo: AP Photo/Kevork Djanseziaz]
