JAY-Z’s attorney has provided a range of evidence challenging a lawsuit that accuses the rap icon of raping a 13-year-old girl with Diddy after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Speaking at Roc Nation’s New York City headquarters on Monday (December 16), Alex Spiro cast doubt on the woman’s accusations, claiming the alleged assault “never happened.”
Spiro presented evidence, including photographs of JAY-Z at a different event than the one the accuser claimed he attended, and argued that none of Diddy’s properties at the time matched the description given in the lawsuit.
“There is no such location,” he said. “We don’t know if they fabricated a location to establish jurisdiction in New York or if they simply didn’t do their research.”
The lawyer also pointed out discrepancies in the woman’s timeline, asserting it would have been impossible for her to have been driven to the afterparty, assaulted, then escaped to a gas station and been picked up by her father (who was allegedly five hours away) “just before dawn,” as the lawsuit states.
“These are not minor inconsistencies… If you look at the time, it’s simply not possible,” Spiro added, expressing confidence that the case “will be dismissed or fall apart.”
Spiro further contested the woman’s claim that she watched the VMAs on a jumbotron outside Radio City Music Hall, as there was no jumbotron that year.
He also highlighted that she wouldn’t have been able to approach Diddy’s limousine, as the streets were blocked off due to Eminem’s famous performance at the VMAs.
Spiro also downplayed JAY-Z’s relationship with Diddy, who is currently facing multiple sexual assault lawsuits as well as federal charges related to sex trafficking and racketeering.
“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs,” Spiro said. “They’ve known each other professionally for years. They support each other at music events, they go to NBA All-Star Games together—that’s just how things work in their industry.”
“There is no closer relationship than that—it’s just a fictional narrative. He has no knowledge of the charges or allegations against Diddy. He is not involved in that case, and there’s nothing more to say about it.”
On how his client is coping with the lawsuit, Spiro remarked: “He’s upset that someone is allowed to make a mockery of the system like this. He’s upset that this distracts from real victims coming forward. He’s upset his family and children have to deal with this. And he has every right to be upset.”
In response, the woman’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, told Complex: “Courts decide factual disputes, not press conferences.”
Spiro’s comments followed a recent admission by the woman, who told NBC News she had “made some mistakes” in recalling the events of the alleged assault.
JAY-Z issued a statement in response, declaring: “Today’s report shows this ‘attorney’ Buzbee filed a false claim against me for money and fame.
“This incident never occurred, yet he filed it in court and doubled down in the media. True justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over before it began.”
