Jay-Z’s attorney told reporters on Monday that the rape case against the rap mogul is “provably demonstrably false,” presenting evidence that he says explains why the story told by Jane Doe “never happened.” Alex Spiro also declared, “This is not for truth and justice. This is for money.”
Spiro spoke at Roc Nation’s New York headquarters, saying that the attorney who filed the lawsuit — Tony Buzbee — took advantage of the now 38-year-old woman who says Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her at a party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The Jane Doe acknowledged inconsistencies in her allegations last week in a NBC News report and Spiro says he wants the public to know that “these are not minor inconsistencies. … If you look at the time, it’s not possible this could happen.”
“I want to make sure this is clear: When people make up an account, whether intentionally or their mind is blank or something, they can always get that core part of the story right. They can just keep repeating it over and over and over again; this is what happened, that core part. But they’re always going to mess up the details. When something isn’t real, when something doesn’t happen, you’re going to get the details wrong because you weren’t really there,” he said. “[This was] not possible. It’s because this never happened.”
Days after Buzbee’s filing, Spiro sought to dismiss it, citing inconsistencies. The woman claimed her father picked her up after the alleged sexual assault, but he says he doesn’t remember doing that. The Jane Doe also says she spoke to another celebrity at the afterparty where the sexual assault took place, but that person — Benji Madden of the rock band Good Charlotte — says he was not in New York that night but on tour in the Midwest.
On Wednesday, Spiro said the house she claims she was raped at isn’t real: “There is no such location. We don’t know whether they created a location in order to try to get jurisdiction in New York so they could bring this case in New York or that they just didn’t do their homework.”
He also says at the time she claimed Jay-Z assaulted her, he was at another event, and he showed photos of Jay-Z there. Spiro said the victim said she watched the awards show from a jumbotron outside of Radio City but explained there was no jumbotron at the show that year. He also said the woman wasn’t able to reach Combs’ limousine but said the streets had been heavily blocked off because Eminem’s VMA performance was there.
Spiro played a six-minute clip of the NBC News report for reporters and said Buzbee “created this narrative” and that he expects “this case to be dismissed. If not, it will crumble.”
“[The Jane Doe] said she’s at the party alone, this 13-year-old girl, and she finds herself in the room with the three most famous people at the party — just think about how unnatural, how little common sense that makes. And according to her, one of the witnesses is a female celebrity who’s just standing there watching the repetitive rape of a child. … There’s an adult female in the room watching the rape of a child,” he said. “Afterwards, she says she runs out of the house naked; none of them notice that. None of them pay any notice. For 24 years, none of them has said anything?”
Spiro also acknowledged Jay-Z, saying he was upset at the situation. “He’s upset that somebody would be allowed to do this, would be allowed to make a mockery of the system like this. He’s upset that this distracts and dissuades real victims from coming forward. He’s upset that his kids and family have to deal with this. And he should be upset.”
When asked about Jay-Z’s relationship with Combs, Spiro said: “Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs. They knew each other professionally for a number of years. Just like in all professions, people know each other. At music awards, they support each other. They go to the NBA All-Star Game, they support each other. That’s just how professions work. There is no closer association between any of them — that’s also a matter of fiction. That’s all that there is. He doesn’t know anything about the charges or allegations against him. He has nothing to do with that case and there’s nothing more to say.”
Regarding Buzbee, Spiro said: “This issue … is going to be dealt with.”
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