Jay Z is a step closer in seeking to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of rape in 2000 of a 13-year-old girl.
On Thursday, January 2, Judge Annalisa Torres of the Southern District of New York granted a request by the rap mogul’s attorney, Alex Spiroto file a motion to dismiss the case on procedural grounds, according to court documents shared via X by a legal journalist Megan M. Kunif.
Spiro argued in a Monday, Dec. 30, letter to Judge Torres that the woman suing jay-z can’t sue against the rapper (real name Shawn Carter) under New York’s Gender-Based Violence Protection Act because it didn’t go into effect until after she claimed she was assaulted by Jay-Z.
In her lawsuit, the woman — identified only as “Jane Doe” — she claimed she had been raped by Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in September 2000, when she was just 13. (Both stars have denied the allegations.) A New York law offering civil protection to victims of gender-based violence took effect in December the same year. (It was amended in December 2022 to allow people two years to come forward with historical claims that would otherwise have expired.)
According to Judge Torres’ ruling on Thursday, Jay-Z’s attorney has been given permission to file a motion to dismiss the case until February 6. Jane Doe’s lawyers will then have until February 28 to file objections. Jay-Z has until March 14 to respond.
“Plaintiff cannot recover for her sole claim under the Protection of Victims of Gender-Based Violence Act (GMV Act) as a matter of law because the statute is not retroactive,” Spiro wrote in a letter to Judge Torres in Monday.
He continued: “The claimant alleges a breach of the GMV Act for conduct alleged to have taken place in September 2000. But the GMV Act was not enacted until December 19, 2000, three months after the FAC alleged the conduct occurred, and cannot be applied retroactively to create a cause of action unavailable to the claimant at the time in question.”
Doe’s attorney, Tony Busbywrote a letter to Judge Torres on Tuesday, Dec. 31, opposing Jay-Z’s motion to dismiss. Buzbee wrote that “Defendant’s argument regarding the GMVA is unpersuasive because it runs counter to the law’s primary intent: to make it easier for victims of gender-based violence to seek civil remedies in court—not, as Defendant contends, to make it more difficult,” according to a court document shared from Cuniff on Thursday.
Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro clarifies his client’s relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs. “Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs or Mr. Combs’ case. They had known each other professionally for several years,” Spiro told Us Weekly and other reporters during a press roundtable on Monday, Dec. (…)
Last week, Judge Torres said in court documents obtained by TMZ that Jane Doe can remain unnamed as she declined Jay-Z’s first attempt to receive the case was dismissed and Doe’s identity is revealed. However, the judge noted that circumstances may change as the case progresses. Torres said he intends to revisit the matter if and when the case moves forward.
Doe’s lawyer, Busby and Jay-Z are also embroiled in their own legal battle. Jay-Z is suing Buzbee, accusing him of extortion and defamation. Busby filed his own lawsuit against Jay-Z’s Roc Nation earlier this month, claiming the company bribed his clients to file lawsuits against his firm, threatened former clients and impersonated government officials. (Roc Nation called the lawsuit “bullshit.”)
