JAY-Z is pushing forward with legal action in California after a judge dismissed his defamation and extortion lawsuit against Tony Buzbee, acknowledging that withheld evidence could have changed the outcome.
The woman, known as Jane Doe, alleged in 2024 that she was assaulted by JAY-Z and Diddy in 2000, when she was 13.
On Monday (June 30), Judge Mark H. Epstein ruled that Buzbee’s conduct didn’t meet the legal threshold for extortion under California law.
The decision came after the court excluded key declarations from two investigators who interviewed the woman at the center of the case, referred to as Jane Doe.
Following the ruling, JAY-Z’s attorney, Alex Spiro, issued a sharp response.
“We are surprised and disappointed by this ruling, which turns on the misapplication of California law on the admissibility of the investigators’ statements,” Spiro said. “Notably, the Judge expressly states that his decision would have ‘change[d] dramatically’ if he had admitted the statements into evidence as they would have shown ‘not only that Carter had nothing to do with any sexual assault on Doe, but that Buzbee knew it…’ and thus ‘the court would come out the other way on this motion.'”
Spiro added, “What does it say about our justice system if someone can knowingly bring about completely false claims of the most heinous nature imaginable against an innocent individual and get away with it on a technicality? We plan to appeal this case immediately.”
In March, Carter’s attorneys submitted sworn statements from two investigators who met with Doe in Alabama.
According to those declarations, Doe admitted that JAY-Z never assaulted her and claimed Buzbee pressured her to make false accusations.
She also said Buzbee’s firm promised her financial compensation and that Buzbee later urged her to drop the case, allegedly saying “he had threatened to kill her.”
Doe also told investigators that she first met Buzbee in person on December 9, 2024, in Houston. That meeting occurred five weeks after Buzbee sent a demand letter to Jay-Z on November 5, 2024, without Doe’s knowledge or consent.
Buzbee has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the case as baseless. He is expected to seek attorneys’ fees following the dismissal.
JAY-Z’s legal team confirmed plans to appeal the ruling as of Tuesday (July 1).
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