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.
Both men deny the allegations.
According to NBC News, Sky’s US news partner, the lawsuit claims the girl 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’
“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.”
Jay-Z 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.”
Jay-Z has been married to Beyonce since 2008 after the couple met around 2000.
He said in the statement to NBC: “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people. I mourn yet another loss of innocence.
“Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable,” he added.
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 Combs, who goes on trial next year for sex trafficking charges.
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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 defences, 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.”
