Jay-Z sues Jane Doe weeks after she dropped her lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault

The rapper and Roc Nation founder, whose real name is Shawn Carter, on Monday filed a complaint in Alabama federal court that alleged Jane Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, leveled claims against Jay-Z despite Doe’s alleged admission that the hip-hop mogul did not sexually assault her.

Buzbee, Doe and attorney David Fortney are listed as defendants.

The filing states the defendants had made a “desperate attempt to leverage Mr. Carter into an extortionate payoff which these malicious actors presented as the only path for Mr. Carter to prevent the public prosecution of a lawsuit by Doe.” The “depraved attack,” Jay-Z’s attorneys say, began with an attempt “to extort Mr. Carter beginning on November 5, 2024, through a menacing ‘private’ ‘demand letter.’”

Jay-Z’s lawsuit claims malicious prosecution, abuse of process, civil conspiracy and defamation. The last claim is only aimed at Doe.

Doe’s October lawsuit, which was amended in December to include Jay-Z as a defendant, caused him “to suffer actual and special damages, including, but not limited to, harm to his personal and professional reputation, harm to his business entity, Roc Nation — which resulted in his business suffering substantial losses in excess of $20 million — out-of-pocket loss, and emotional harm, humiliation, and harassment.”

His team is seeking a jury trial that would award them damages.

USA TODAY has reached out to Buzbee for comment.

The move comes more than two weeks after Doe voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be re-filed in the future.

Tony Buzbee calls Jay-Z’s lawsuit ‘baloney’

In a statement to Billboard, the Texas-based attorney said: “This case is baloney and has no legal merit. Shawn Carter’s investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story. She won’t.”

The statement continued: “Instead she has stated repeatedly she stands by her claims. These same group of investigators have been caught on tape offering to pay people to sue me and my firm. This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course.”

Jay-Z’s filing claims Doe “voluntarily admitted directly to representatives of Mr. Carter that the story brought before the world in court and on global television was just that: a false, malicious story.”

It continues to allege that she “admitted that Mr. Carter did not assault her; and that indeed it was Buzbee himself … who pushed her to go forward with the false narrative of the assault by Mr. Carter in order to leverage a maximum payday.”

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.