The legal battle between Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, an anonymous accuser, and her attorney Tony Buzbee has taken several dizzying turns in the past 24 hours.
On Monday, Jay-Z filed a defamation lawsuit against the woman, who accused him and Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting her in 2000 when she was 13, then dropped her lawsuit four months later.
In his March 3 complaint, obtained by NBC News, Jay-Z alleged the woman, Buzbee and co-counsel David Fortney sued the hip-hop mogul in October, because they “were soullessly motivated by greed.”
Related: Damon Dash Says Black Media Gave Jay-Z ‘A Pass’ for Decades
The mogul’s complaint, which was filed in federal court in the Southern District of Alabama, where the anonymous Jane Doe accuser lives, said the three defendants tried to “extort” him, but he refused to be shaken down.
“Doe appears to be suffering from personal and financial hardship,” the mogul’s lawsuit stated. “She lost custody of her children, and her parents, who, on information and belief, support Doe, recently filed for bankruptcy protection. Desperate to obtain a payday, Doe hired the Buzbee law firm… to extort payments from Mr. Carter under the threat of devastating harm to his reputation.”
Jay-Z cited inconsistencies in the woman’s account of the alleged assault when she did a sit-down interview with NBC News in December. Shown in silhouette while speaking, the woman admitted she’d made “mistakes” regarding the timeline of the incident.
The “Empire State Of Mind” rapper claimed in his lawsuit that Doe’s allegations caused “substantial losses in excess of $20 million — out-of-pocket loss, and emotional harm, humiliation, and harassment.”
The woman’s lawsuit initially only listed Diddy as a defendant and alleged the Bad Boy Records founder took turns raping her with an unnamed male celebrity.
Then on Dec. 8, Buzbee filed an amended complaint in federal court, which named Jay-Z as the male celebrity. That day, Jay-Z responded with a statement denying the woman’s allegations and called the lawsuit a “blackmail attempt.” Diddy, who is currently jailed, also vehemently denied the woman’s claims.
That was in December. Now, the woman is firing back with a new filing, saying she’s standing by her claims, despite her lawsuit being dismissed on Feb. 14.
In her legal documents, obtained by TMZ, the woman alleged Jay-Z has been trying to intimidate her.
She said she was recently approached outside her home by two people who told her they were investigators working for the mogul’s legal team.
The woman said Jay-Z’s reps tracked her down — even though she filed her complaint anonymously — and tried to get her to sign an affidavit saying she was never assaulted, which she refused.
Her attorney Tony Buzbee is also speaking out, and issued a lengthy statement via social media on Tuesday, March 4, saying he never tried to shake down Jay-Z, which the mogul claimed.
“I sent a demand for a meeting to Shawn Carter’s attorney on behalf of two individuals who alleged sexual assault. Rather than meet with me, Carter’s team sued me for extortion,” Buzbee stated. “Those claims were stupidly frivolous and I expect they will be thrown out… Carter’s lawyer also came to Houston and met with the local authorities and tried to get criminal charges started against me. (That went nowhere.)”
The attorney went on to allege Jay-Z and his reps tried to destroy his reputation and career.
“Carter’s team filed a meritless motion for sanctions against me, challenged my admission to federal court in New York, and filed a state bar grievance against me,” the attorney added.
Buzbee then repeated the claim that the mogul’s reps “threatened” the female accuser.
“Here is where it gets really nasty. They found my client who had filed suit. They threatened and harassed her. They harassed her family and friends. She has health issues. She has seizures. She withdrew her case,” he stated. “They then sued her, and me again, for defamation. (They had already sued me for defamation and most of that case is also being thrown out.)”
The attorney added, “They wanted a headline so in that new case they FALSELY claimed she recanted. She didn’t. She hasn’t. She won’t. I wasn’t there when the things she claims happened to her allegedly happened. I’m just her lawyer. I was sent her case by another firm and vetted it myself and with multiple lawyers on my team. The approach here by Carter’s team is unprecedented. It reeks of desperation. Wonder why?”
Buzbee concluded by saying he “won’t be bullied or intimidated, period.”
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