A week after Jay-Z’s rape accuser retracted her allegations, a California appeals court has cleared the way for the star to revive an extortion lawsuit against the lawyers who filed the stunning misconduct case.
In an order Thursday (Oct. 1), a three-judge panel of appeals judges made a significant change to its ruling last month that said Jay-Z can’t sue the lawyer Tony Buzbee To quickly settle a rape case on behalf of a Jane Doe plaintiff.
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Jay-Z had asked the appeals court to rehear the case, arguing that Doe’s retraction was “explosive new evidence” that would change the outcome. In the new decision the court declined to do so, but also clearly noted a lower judge The case can still be reopened.
“Our decision will not prevent the trial court from ordering discovery based on any new evidence and from reconsidering its prior decision, if the court deems it appropriate,” the appeals court wrote in a decision received Thursday. board.
Buzbee’s lawsuit, filed in December 2024, claimed that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs drugged and assaulted a teenage girl during a party after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. Jay-Z immediately called the scandalous allegations a “blackmail attempt” and fought back by suing Buzbee for extortion and defamation.
But a Los Angeles trial judge dismissed the star’s case last year, ruling that there was no evidence that Buzbee filed rape claims against Jay-Z without knowing they were false or extorted money from him by threatening to sue. And last month, a state appeals court upheld that decision.
However, two weeks later, Jay-Z’s accuser completely refuted her allegations, and told a judge in a separate case that her claims against the star were “false”, that he had mental health issues and that his now-former lawyers had filed the rape claims with too little diligence.
Citing that face-off, Jay-Z last week asked the appeals court to revive the case against Buzbee, arguing that the recusal shows that Buzbee’s lawsuit was “built on lies” from the beginning: “Justice requires that this court consider this explosive new evidence that was procured today and allow Carter’s meritorious claims to move forward.”
That request was always a legal far-fetched effort. Appeals courts generally cannot hear new evidence and must only consider the record that has already been developed in the lower court. Jay-Z was asking the appeals court to make an exception for his case, calling the situation “extraordinary.”
On Thursday, the appeals court rejected his petition to rehear the case, refusing to do so. and in a statement boardBuzbee’s lawyers celebrated that part of the decision, saying that the court had “rejected Carter’s latest attempt to upset his decision” and had confirmed a ruling that would allow him to demand reimbursement for Buzbee’s legal bills from Jay-Z.
“It denied the petition for a rehearing and the request to consider Jane Doe’s new declaration without requesting any comment,” Buzbee’s attorneys said in the statement. “The court simply said that the trial court retains its existing authority to consider new evidence if it wishes to do so. We are confident in the decision and stand ready to consider whatever comes next.”
Unlike the original version of the ruling, which merely confirmed the dismissal of the case, Thursday’s new version tells the trial judge he can reopen the case and order new discovery that Jay-Z is seeking. The case will now go back to the lower court for more litigation, where the star’s lawyers have already vowed to ask for the case to be retried.
Jay-Z’s attorney said, “We are pleased that the Court of Appeals has invited us to reconsider our prior decision to order discovery from the Superior Court based on Ms. Doe’s recent announcement.” jeremy rosen Said in a statement. “We intend to proceed with that application as soon as jurisdiction is returned to the Superior Court.”