Jay-Z’s war with Houston attorney Tony Buzbee escalated Wednesday when Buzbee brought a lawsuit alleging Roc Nation and lawyers associated with the rapper’s company used “shadowy operatives” and promised paydays to illegally entice former Buzbee clients into filing “frivolous” claims against him.
It’s the latest development in the unfolding battle between the pair that started when Buzbee filed an October lawsuit on behalf of a Jane Doe plaintiff who alleges Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z sexually assaulted her during a VMAs afterparty when she was 13 years old in 2000.
Jay-Z has vehemently denied the woman’s “heinous” accusations and vowed to discredit Buzbee. The Roc Nation mogul, whose real name is Shawn Carter, says the national trial attorney previously sent him a demand letter that he equated to extortion. “I have no idea how you have become such a deplorable human, Mr. Buzbee,” Carter said in a Dec. 8 statement posted on X. “I have seen your kind many times over. I’m more than prepared to deal with your type.”
On Wednesday morning, Buzbee took to Instagram to say he was filing the new lawsuit against Roc Nation, Carter’s longtime powerhouse law firm Quinn Emanuel and Mississippi attorney Marcy Croft. The complaint, filed in Texas and obtained by Rolling Stone, lists former Buzbee client Gerardo Garcia as the plaintiff and alleges Garcia was approached by two “pushy” investigators who tried to convince him to join a class action against Buzbee’s firm with the promise of likely compensation.
Buzbee claims the investigators were part of an effort against him that is being “financed” by Roc Nation and “orchestrated” by Quinn Emanuel and Croft. “Defendants have conspired to obstruct justice by engaging shadowy operatives to illegally seek out more than two dozen current and former clients of The Buzbee Law Firm to convince those clients to bring frivolous cases against The Buzbee Law Firm,” the lawsuit claims. Buzbee says Garcia recorded some of his interaction with the alleged agents.
Roc Nation quickly responded Wednesday by slamming the complaint. “Tony Buzbee’s baloney lawsuit against Roc Nation is nothing but another sham,” the company said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “It’s a pathetic attempt to distract and deflect attention. This sideshow won’t change the ultimate outcome and true justice will be served soon.”
“Tony Buzbee has now conjured up fantastical allegations against me and my firm — well known corruption fighters — in a desperate attempt to distract from his mounting legal woes. We look forward to addressing these false allegations and having them dismissed,” Croft said in her own statement.
“We assume this frivolous lawsuit is an attempt to distract from his other frivolous lawsuits. We have no idea what he is talking about,” a spokesperson for Quinn Emanuel said in a statement.
During a press conference at Roc Nation on Dec. 16, Carter’s lead attorney from Quinn Emanuel, Alex Spiro, said he had “no idea” what Buzbee was referring to when he first made claims on social media that investigators were showing up at his clients’ doors. Spiro said he had “zero connection to those people.”
In his own new filing in the Jane Doe case Wednesday, Spiro went back on the offensive, asking for an “emergency” protective order preserving evidence. He claimed Buzbee has a “history of abusing the legal process” and alleged there’s a “substantial risk that Buzbee will destroy evidence damaging to [Jane Doe’s] case, including evidence of his own misconduct.” Spiro argued Buzbee failed to properly vet his client and then tried to “squeeze” Carter for money while “threatening to go public.” Spiro also faulted Buzbee for failing to seek admission to the New York-based case after signing Jane Doe’s complaint as an out-of-state lawyer.
Garcia, the Houston resident serving as plaintiff in the new lawsuit against Roc Nation, previously hired Buzbee’s firm to represent him in an injury dispute that settled in 2020. Recently, Garcia alleges, two investigators showed up to his home and flashed some badges, saying they were with “the state.” The lawsuit claims the individuals asked questions about Garcia’s experience with Buzbee and told him there would be “money in this for you” if he agreed to sign up to a class action they were putting together against Buzbee.
“These investigators’ requests became increasingly aggressive and hostile,” the lawsuit alleges. “At some point, defendants’ agents demanded Mr. Garcia produce his medical records, and offered him money to hire the private lawyer to sue the Buzbee Law Firm. Mr. Garcia decided to call the Buzbee Law Firm and report the conduct.”
Garcia claims that one of the investigators eventually disclosed she was working with Croft. The lawsuit includes social media posts allegedly showing that Croft “advertises herself as a member of ‘Team Roc’” and says she is “actively involved with criminal justice reform and prison reform alongside RocNation’s philanthropic arm, Team Roc.”
The lawsuit also claims that some of Buzbee’s other previous clients have been approached by unknown individuals. One former client is a woman in Louisiana who claims she was offered $10,000 to be part of the litigation. The lawsuit is seeking damages for illegal solicitation of potential legal clients, known as barratry, and civil conspiracy.
“These folks have stooped to a new low to try to intimidate the lawyers of the Buzbee Law Firm from doing their important work,” Buzbee said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “This conduct was specifically targeted at our firm so we would not pursue cases related to the Diddy litigation. But, we will not be bullied or intimidated. The defendants overstepped, got sloppy, and stupidly got caught in their illegal scheme on tape. We intend to cooperate with authorities to ensure all involved are prosecuted to the full extent allowed under Texas law.”
Though Jane Doe’s lawsuit was first filed in October, it wasn’t until Dec. 8 that Carter was named as a co-defendant with Combs. In the amended complaint, Carter was accused of raping the 13-year-old girl alongside Combs after the VMAs held on Sept. 7, 2000. Carter categorically denied the allegation, calling it an “idiotic” attempt at blackmail. He blasted Buzbee and vowed, “I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
Carter and Spiro followed up hours later with a court filing urging the federal judge overseeing the sex assault lawsuit to either unmask the Jane Doe or dismiss her complaint. Spiro said Carter “never” sexually assaulted anyone and has no idea who the woman is. They called Buzbee a “fraud” orchestrating a “shakedown” and confirmed Carter was the John Doe “celebrity” who sued Buzbee for alleged extortion in Los Angeles. They alleged Buzbee added Carter’s name to the Jane Doe lawsuit as “a clear act of retaliation” because Carter sued first.
On Dec. 13, the Jane Doe plaintiff spoke to NBC News and acknowledged some inconsistencies in her story. She had claimed she mingled with musician Benji Madden at the alleged VMAs afterparty and that her father picked her up from a gas station after the alleged rape. But her father told NBC News he did not recall retrieving her and lived five hours away at the time. A representative for Madden said the musician did not attend the VMAs that year and was in another state. “I have made some mistakes,” the woman said in a follow up interview. “I may have made a mistake in identifying [Madden].” The woman said she still stands by her claims.
Speaking to reporters at Roc Nation on Tuesday, Spiro again disputed Jane Doe’s account, saying more details and the timeline in her lawsuit had been debunked. He said the VMAs did not have a Jumbotron outside that year, as the woman alleged, and that Combs did not own a large white home 20 minutes away from Radio City Music Hall.
“You have to look at the timeline,” Spiro told a group of reporters. “There’s an old expression that time doesn’t lie … these are not minor inconsistencies. These are not minor problems with these stories. This is utter falsehoods. Time never lies.”
In the emergency filing Wednesday, Spiro said photos show Combs and former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were at the New York nightclubs Lotus and Twirl after the 2000 VMAs, and that Carter “separately” was at Lotus after the ceremony. “The takeaway is obvious: Buzbee failed to undertake a reasonable inquiry into the facts before filing the complaint,” Spiro wrote.
For his part, Buzbee entered the fray of the many lawsuits against Combs when he held a press conference in early October, saying he was working with at least 120 plaintiffs with credible claims against the already indicted music mogul. He filed an initial batch of six lawsuits on Oct. 14 and seven more on Oct. 20, including the lawsuit from the Jane Doe now suing Carter. Altogether, Buzbee is linked to more than 20 lawsuits now pending against Combs in New York.
Combs, 55, has denied the allegations from Buzbee’s clients and attacked Buzbee as well. “The lawyer behind this lawsuit is interested in media attention rather than the truth,” Combs’ lawyers said in a recent statement. “Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous or demonstrably false. Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor.”
Combs was indicted in September and has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. The media mogul was arrested in New York City on Sept. 16 and has been detained since. His trial is set for May 2025 and he is next due in court on March 17.
