A woman who accused Jay-Z of sexual assault was reportedly caught on tape admitting her claims were untrue, according to the rapper’s attorney.
The accuser, identified as Jane Doe, had alleged that Jay-Z – born Shawn Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulted her at a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards after-party when she was 13 years old. However, the lawsuit was dropped on February 14.
In a recorded conversation, Doe allegedly told private investigators that her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, pressured her into filing the lawsuit against Jay-Z.
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“But Jay-Z… you’re saying he was definitely there? But he had no part in it?” one investigator asked in the tape.
“He was there,” Doe responded.
READ ALSO: Jay-Z sues rape accuser and her attorney over sexual assault claims
A second investigator pressed, “He was just there, but he didn’t have anything to do with any sexual acts towards you?”
“Yeah,” Doe admitted.
The recording also allegedly captures Doe stating that Buzbee pushed her to sue Jay-Z.
“He was the one that kind of pushed me towards going forward with him, with Jay-Z,” she reportedly said.
Jay-Z’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, addressed the recording in an interview with Good Morning America, saying, “The tape speaks for itself. [Doe] says in no uncertain terms, Mr. Carter did not do this. It is effectively a lie, and the only reason he was involved is because she was pressured to include him by a lawyer.”
Buzbee has denied the claims, calling them a “blatant lie.” He provided a separate recording in which Doe denied recanting her allegations.
“They say they have you on tape denying that Jay-Z assaulted you. Is that true?” Buzbee asked Doe in the recording he shared.
“No. No. I don’t—I’ve never said that,” she replied.
Buzbee also claimed that Doe was manipulated into making statements on the tape.
“The investigators tormented, harassed, and tricked that poor woman, took what she said out of context, and secretly recorded her,” he said in a statement. “She stands by her claim that Jay-Z was there and that he assaulted her.”
Jay-Z has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Doe and her attorneys, seeking unspecified damages. His legal team maintains that the accusations were false from the start, and a source close to the rapper said his family—especially wife Beyoncé and their children—was deeply affected by the ordeal.
Following the dismissal of Doe’s lawsuit, Jay-Z issued a statement calling the allegations “frivolous, fictitious, and appalling.”
“I would not wish this experience on anyone,” he said. “The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones, and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
READ ALSO: Woman withdraws civil lawsuit alleging rape by Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs at age 13
