Jay-Z's Lawyer Lays Out Inconsistencies with Accuser’s Story

Jay-Z continued fighting back against his rape allegation on Monday, as his lawyer Alex Spiro made a presentation laying out issues with the accuser’s story at the office of Hov’s company, Roc Nation.

Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, is accused, along with Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping a then-13-year-old girl at an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The anonymous accuser is suing the two stars in federal court. The suit was originally filed in October and at first only named Diddy. Jay was added a little over a week ago.

Responding to the NBC News interview

Spiro began his event by playing an NBC News report about the accuser, which included an interview the network did with her. In the segment, the network points out that the accuser recalls her father coming to pick her up after the alleged assault—driving five hours from Rochester, New York—but that when they asked him about that night, he claimed not to remember any such trip. The report also pointed out other inconsistencies, including that her claim to have talked to a member of Good Charlotte at the party could not have happened, because the band was on tour in the Midwest at the time.

After playing the segment, the attorney went through the anonymous accuser’s story in detail, explaining ways in which, he said, her account of the evening doesn’t make sense.

The woman’s complaint places the party at which she was allegedly assaulted at a private home “approximately 20 minutes” from the VMAs location of Radio City Music Hall. She described the house as being white and having a U-shaped driveway. None of the properties Diddy owned in the area at that time (a Manhattan townhouse and a home in East Hampton) fit that description, Spiro said.

He pointed out other facts that he said contradict the woman’s complaint, including the lack of a Jumbotron in front of Radio City that year, something she mentioned seeing in her suit. Much of the attorney’s time was spent looking at the woman’s timeline of events. The VMAs that year ended at 11 PM. Spiro said it would have been impossible for the woman to have, as she laid out in the suit, been driven to the party, been assaulted, run to a gas station, called home, and been picked up by her father—who was five hours away—“shortly before dawn.”

“It doesn’t check out,” Spiro said. “This never happened.

“[Diddy and Jay-Z] had to leave Radio City, they had to go to the commercial establishments [where they were photographed following the awards show]…, and get back to the white house before she has to leave at 12:30 AM [to give her enough time to get to a gas station and call her father],” he elaborated. “None of this can work.”

Spiro insisted that the woman’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, who has filed around 20 civil suits against Diddy with the promise of more on the way, is to blame for the allegations.

“You all saw that video of her being interviewed in that shadowy room,” Spiro said, referring to the interview with NBC News. “She’s talking about her issues, her head trauma. She’s been through a lot in her life.

“Who took advantage of this? Why are we here? Why is this story even created? I’ll tell you… This lawyer took advantage of this. That’s what’s going on here.”

“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs.”

Spiro had advice for other famous people who may find themselves approached by Buzbee, who mentioned in a press conference in October that “we’re gonna name…names that will shock you” in his Diddy-related suits.

“I would urge any other celebrity that’s being shaken down right now to do the same thing [as Jay-Z] and to stand in the truth,” Spiro said.

The attorney went out of his way to say that Hov “doesn’t know anything about the charges or allegations against Diddy” and “has nothing to do with” the Bad Boy head’s current federal sex trafficking and racketeering case.

“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs,” Spiro said. “They knew each other professionally for a number of years. Just like in all professions, people know each other.

“At the music awards, they support each other. You go to the NBA All-Star Game, they support each other. That’s just how professions work. There is no closer association between any of them. That’s also a matter of fiction. That’s all that there is.”

When asked about the possibility of a defamation suit against the accuser or Buzbee, Spiro did not answer directly. But he hinted that further legal action may be forthcoming.

“This issue of a lawyer taking advantage of the situation is going to be dealt with, I can assure you,” he said. “Stay tuned.”

Buzbee has, for his part, accused Spiro of wrongdoing as well. He’s sued Spiro’s firm Quinn Emmanuel, accusing them of hiring a private intelligence firm to question people connected to him in order to dig up dirt.

Spiro responded to a question about that suit by saying he hadn’t heard of Lex Intelligence, the outfit Buzbee said had sent out investigators “at the direction of Quinn Emmanuel” to gather information about him.

“I don’t know that firm, don’t know those people,” Spiro said.

Tony Buzbee responded to Spiro’s presentation with a short statement.

“Courts resolve factual disputes,” he said via email. “They aren’t resolved in press conferences.”

In response to a question about the state of mind of his superstar client, Spiro revealed that the Roc Nation head was angry.

“He’s upset,” Spiro said of Jay-Z. “He’s upset that somebody would be allowed to do this and make a mockery of the system like this. He’s upset that this distracts and dissuades real victims from coming forward. He’s upset that his kids and his family have to deal with this. He’s upset. And he should be upset.”