Jay-Z accused of raping girl, 13, alongside P Diddy after MTV Video Music Awards
Rapper Jay-Z has been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, allegedly alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The accuser, who is identified as “Jane Doe”, said the assault happened at an after-party.
A federal lawsuit – which originally only named Combs – was refiled on Sunday in New York to add Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
According to NBC News, Sky’s US news partner, the lawsuit claims that Doe was dropped off at the VMAs at Radio City Music Hall by a friend – she did not have a ticket and approached various limousine drivers to try to gain access to the show or after party.
One driver allegedly told Doe he worked for Combs and she “fit what Diddy was looking for”. The driver later picked her up, the lawsuit says, and after 20 minutes she was dropped off at a white house with a u-shaped driveway. The girl was then made to sign a document she believed to be a non-disclosure agreement.
She was allegedly offered a drink that made her feel “woozy, lightheaded and felt [like] she needed to lie down”.
Shortly afterward, the suit says, both P Diddy and Jay-Z entered the room, with P Diddy telling her: “You are ready to party!”
That’s when, she alleges, Carter removed her clothes, held her down and raped her while Combs and an unnamed female celebrity watched. She says Combs also raped her as Carter and the woman looked on.
After the assault, she “grabbed her clothes” and ran to the nearest petrol station where she called her father.
She is seeking unspecified damages.
‘Heinous allegations’
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was named alongside Carter in the lawsuit. Pic: AP
“These allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one!! Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?” Jay-Z said in a statement to NBC News.
“These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
He criticised the lawyer, Tony Buzbee, who filed the suit: “My heart and support goes out to true victims in the world, who have to watch how their life story is dressed in costume for profitability by this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.”
Texas-based Mr Buzbee told Sky News: “The pleading speaks for itself. This is a very serious matter that will be litigated in court.”
Combs, a three-time Grammy winner and one of the most influential hip-hop producers of the past three decades, has been facing a wave of lawsuits by women who have accused him of sexual assault.
Read more: What is Sean Combs accused of?
Mr Buzbee announced on 1 October that he was representing 120 accusers in cases against Comb, who goes on trial next year for sex trafficking charges.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
New lawsuits filed against P Diddy
Lawyers for Combs have denied allegations of rape, sexual assault and misconduct, saying in a previous statement: “Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone-adult or minor, man or woman.”
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
Swift’s final London show was the ‘best’
The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
Her new chart record
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike