Latest news with #Valentines'Day
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Reeks Of Desperation': Jay-Z's Rape Accuser Did Not Admit Story Was False & 'She Won't', Jane Doe Lawyer Says After Rapper Files New Suit
Jay-Z is lying and 'reeks of desperation,' says the lawyer representing the Jane Doe who accused the Grammy-winning rapper and the incarcerated Sean 'Diddy' Combs of repeatedly raping her in 2000. In an already pugilistic case that was dismissed by the plaintiff on Valentines' Day after it was played out in court and in the press for months, Tony Buzbee today claims things have turned even more 'nasty' in recent weeks. 'Pay attention here: They wanted a headline so in that new case they FALSELY claimed she recanted. She didn't. She hasn't. She won't,' Buzbee said today in a post on social media. More from Deadline One Day After Big Oscar Party, Jay-Z Goes After Jane Doe & Lawyer Over 'Evil Conspiracy' Behind Now Dismissed Rape Case Jay-Z Claims Now Dismissed Rape Case Cost Him $20M In Lost Income; Was Timed To Embarrass Daughter Blue Ivy At 'Mufasa' Premiere Jimmy Kimmel Says Conan O'Brien Did Such A Good Job As Oscar Host, "Next Year They're Giving It To Jay Leno" Representatives for Jay-Z did not respond to request for comment on Buzbee's latest comments and the accusations they contain. Two days after Jay-Z and Beyoncé hosted their annual post-Oscars Gold Party at Los Angeles' iconic Chateau Marmont, the superstar's Roc Nation was also silent today about Buzbee's claims. Perhaps they are recalibrating. The online missive by the Houston-based Buzbee comes a day after Jay-Z sued Jane Doe and her attorneys in federal court for 'fabricated accusations' in the dismissed case. In that filing seeing a jury trial and unspecified damages, Jay-Z's lawyers bluntly claimed that 'Doe has now voluntarily admitted directly to representatives of Mr. Carter that the story brought before the world in court and on global television was just that: a false, malicious story.' The complaint goes on to say: 'She has admitted that Mr. Carter did not assault her; and that indeed it was Buzbee himself – whom she met for the first time at a coffee shop in Houston on the day of her maliciously false NBC News interview – who pushed her to go forward with the false narrative of the assault by Mr. Carter in order to leverage a maximum payday.' As you can see in the IG post from Buzbee, with its accompanying photograph of Oscar Wilde, the lawyer calls BS: 'They found my client who had filed suit,' Buzbee said in the Instagram post this morning. 'They threatened and harassed her. They harassed her family and friends. She has health issues. She has seizures. She withdrew her case.' Among the allegations against Combs for vile and violent misconduct, this particular case started with a graphic October 20 lawsuit named Combs in the alleged rape of the then 13-year-old, with mention of a male 'Celebrity A 'and a female 'Celebrity B,' after the 2000 MTV VMAs. On November 18, an Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous 'celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles' sued Buzbee for extortion in L.A. Superior Court. With rumors of the superstar identity of 'Celebrity A' swirling and more and more assault cases filed against Combs, on December 8, Buzbee refiled his initial suit claiming Jay-Z was 'Celebrity A.' Condemning the accusations and the assault of more than 20 years ago as 'heinous in nature,' Jay-Z also revealed himself in early December as the 'figure who resides in L.A.' After months of bare-knuckle legal and media fighting from Jay-Z's longtime lawyer Alex Spiro and Buzbee, the whole thing came to a sudden end February 14 – at least that part of it. But not for long. Building on his statement of February 14 that 'the trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed,' and his supposed loss of $20 million annually in business from Jane Doe's 'career-ending' claims, Jay-Z and his legal team soon went on offense. As Buzbee details in his post today: 'They then sued her, and me again, for defamation. (They had already sued me for defamation and most of that case is also being thrown out.)' Kinda. On February 26, a tentative ruling by LASC Judge Mark H. Epstein stripped Jay-Z's extortion claim against Buzbee from the West Coast case. However, the judge left in the defamation claim and likelihood of a trial if the parties don't settle soon-is. Today's online retort by Buzbee is very much in line with the statement he put out Monday after Jay-Z filed his suit in federal court in Alabama, where Jane Doe resides. 'This new case which alleges the same thing as another one he pieces together and filed in Los Angeles also has no legal merit,' Buzbee said Monday. 'Shawn Carter's investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story. She won't.' Accused in a new filing this week of attacking and assault a woman at the Jay-Z-owned Times Square hotspot 40/40 Club in 2006, Combs continues to face nearly 30 assault and abuse civil suits from Buzbee-represented plaintiffs and others. The Bad Boys Records founder is behind bars at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been since his September 16 arrest on criminal charges. Falling short on multiple occasions to get released on $50 million bail, Combs is set to go to trial on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges May 5. Diddy, who has pleaded not guilty, is looking at life in prison if convicted. BTW, if the photo of Wilde in Buzbee's post has you confused by its inclusion, let me put forth a theory. The lawyer did make an explicit explanation, but I doubt you'd lose a bet if you put your money on the connection being drawn to the sex scandal and brutal persecution that the Divine Oscar, often viewed as the wittiest man to ever live, suffered in the 1890s from the wealthy and well-connected Marquess of Queensberry. You connect the rest of the dots. Best of Deadline How To Watch Sean Baker's Oscar Winner 'Anora': Streaming, For Rent And More 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery Every Oscars Best Animated Feature Winner Since 2002
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
One Day After Big Oscar Party, Jay-Z Goes After Jane Doe & Lawyer Over 'Evil Conspiracy' Behind Now Dismissed Rape Case
As the Chateau Marmont staff this morning were cleaning up Jay-Z and Beyoncé's annual post-Oscars Gold Parry, the 'Empire State of Mind' superstar was doubling down on his backlash against the Jane Doe and the lawyer who accused him and Sean 'Diddy' Combs of raping her as a minor in a Valentines' Day dismissed case. 'Defendants devised and executed their plan to accuse Mr. Carter of sexual assault and used national news and media outlets to disseminate the fabricated accusations to millions despite the falsity of the accusation,' proclaims the defamation and malicious prosecution complaint filed Monday in federal court in Alabama against the now middle-aged Jane Doe, as well as attorneys Tony Buzbee and David Fortney. More from Deadline Karla Sofía Gascón Thanks Academy For Oscars Invite: "Especially Your Fabulous Host Jimmy Kimmel" Oscars Viewership Down 7% Amid Hulu Glitches & Lengthy Runtime Demi Moore Congratulates Mikey Madison On Oscars Win: "Can't Wait To See What You Do Next" Using terms like 'evil conspiracy,' the filing say the trio 'were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth and the most fundamental precepts of human decency' in claiming Jay-Z a.k.a. Shawn Carter participated in repeatedly raping her after the 2000 MTV VMAs. After a graphic October 20 lawsuit named the much accused and currently incarcerated Combs for the alleged rape of the then 13-year-old with mention of a male 'Celebrity A 'and a female 'Celebrity B, an Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous 'celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles' went after the Buzbee for extortion in LA Superior Court on November 18. On December 8, the Houston-based lawyer refiled his initial suit claiming that Jay-Z was the 'Celebrity A' in question. Decrying the claims as 'heinous in nature' Jay-Z revealed himself in early December as the 'figure who resides in LA.' Months of fighting the rape claims in federal court in NYC and failing to get the matter tossed out saw a lot of bitter finger pointing with claims of bribery, shady probes and lying from all sides, to varying degrees. Things certainly got shaker for Jane Doe after a mid-December NBC News interview in which she appeared to cut the legs out from several aspects of her own case. The sudden February 14 dismissal of the self-undermined allegations by Jane Doe herself were in many ways the end of the beginning. In a statement posted that day on his Roc Nation's X feed, Jay-Z tellingly said: 'I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.' Around the time the rape case was tossed out, Jay-Z claimed in court filings that the accusations were 'incredibly painful' for he and Beyoncé's family and scarred his reputation, personally and professionally. Claiming Buzbee was trying to get a big payout from him, the Roc Nation founder added that the allegations cost his company up to $20 million annually in deals too. In that context, on February 26, a tentative ruling by LASC Judge Mark H. Epstein stripped Jay-Z's extortion claim against Buzbee from the West Coast case. However, Judge Epstein left in the defamation claim and the real possibility of a trial. Full of those same family shame themes and the lost $20 million, today's jury trial seeking move by the '99 Problems' rapper in federal court in Alabama opens up the aperture of such defamation claims, and tries to flip the spotlight. 'Doe has now voluntarily admitted directly to representatives of Mr. Carter that the story brought before the world in court and on global television was just that: a false, malicious story,' Jay-Z's unspecified damages seeking filing in Jane Doe's resident state says. 'She has admitted that Mr. Carter did not assault her; and that indeed it was Buzbee himself – whom she met for the first time at a coffee shop in Houston on the day of her maliciously false NBC News interview – who pushed her to go forward with the false narrative of the assault by Mr. Carter in order to leverage a maximum payday,' the complaint, which also has claims of abuse of process and civil conspiracy, adds. Leaving no stone unturned, the filing also claims that Jane Doe takes a number of medications for 'several mental health disorders.' For his part, Tony Buzbee isn't exactly feeling all Marquess of Queensberry rules either. 'This new case which alleges the same thing as another one he pieces together and filed in Los Angeles also has no legal merit,' the Lone Star state lawyer said in a statement Monday. 'Shawn Carter's investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story,' Buzbee asserted. 'She won't.' 'Instead she has stated repeatedly she stands by her claims. These same group of investigators have been caught on tape offering to pay people to sue me and my firm. This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course. We won't be bullied or intimidated by frivolous cases.' In terms of other cases, Sean Combs is facing dozens of assault and abuse civil suits from Buzbee-represented plaintiffs and others. The Bad Boy Records founder remains behind bars at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center where he has been since his September 16 arrest on criminal charges. Failing on multiple occasions to get released on $50 million bail , Combs is set to go to trial on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges starting May 5. If found guilty, the 55-year-old 'All About the Benjamins' performer is looking at a potential sentence of life in prison. Best of Deadline How To Watch Sean Baker's Oscar Winner 'Anora': Streaming, For Rent And More 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery Every Oscars Best Animated Feature Winner Since 2002
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Diddy & Jay-Z Come Out Swinging Over Alleged 'Egregious Misconduct' By Lawyer Behind Dozens Of Cases Against Bad Boy Records Founder
The case that Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs repeatedly raped a 13-year-old after the 2000 MTV VMAs was dismissed on Valentines' Day by its Jane Doe plaintiff. However, in legal moves on both coasts, the two rappers are apparently far from done with her lawyer, Tony Buzbee. Representing dozens and dozens of alleged victims of sexual assault and alleging attacks and abuse by the Bad Boy Records founder, the brash Houston-based attorney now finds himself pummeled by Combs and Shawn Carter (Jay-Z's real name) in federal court in New York over unauthorized practice of law, and in state court in California. More from Deadline Jay-Z & Sean 'Diddy' Combs Rape Case Sees Bad Boy Records Out As Defendant Sean 'Diddy' Combs: An Updated Timeline Of Charges, Allegations & Consequences The Rap Mogul Faces Sean "Diddy" Combs Wants Sex Trafficking Evidence Quashed; No One "Coerced Into Sex", Heavily-Redacted Filing Claims A tentative ruling out of an early morning anti-SLAPP hearing Tuesday before LA Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein appeared to render Jay-Z's extortion claim against Buzbee DOA. Yet, it seems the defamation claim from the '99 Problems' superstar's initially filed suit will almost certainly go forward to trial. 'The conduct alleged raises serious questions about whether Buzbee acted with actual malice, a key component in defamation cases involving public figures,' Judge Epstein said in the tentative, pointing to Buzbee terming his now former client a 'sexual assault survivor' on social media. Stating that he would weigh the arguments made before him on February 25 by attorneys like Camille Vasquez, Judge Epstein also noted that Buzbee liking posts that claimed that Jay-Z was the male 'Celebrity A' in the 2000 rape case implies a degree of malice necessary in a defamation case. After a graphic October 20 lawsuit named Combs for the alleged 2000 rape with mention of a male 'Celebrity A 'and a female 'Celebrity B, an Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous 'celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles' went after the hyperbolic Buzbee for extortion in LASC on November 18. On December 8, the Texas attorney lawyer refiled his initial suit claiming that Jay-Z was the Celebrity A. Denying he had anything to do with something so 'heinous in nature' as what he and Combs were accused of, Jay-Z outed himself as the 'figure who resides in LA.' After months of fighting the rape claims in federal court in NYC, failing to get it tossed out, threatening sanctions on Buzbee via the rapper's longtime lawyer Alex Spiro for not performing due diligence, bribery, and more, the dismissal of the seriously undermined claims by the now middle-aged Jane Doe only seemed to galvanized Beyoncé's better half to go after the Texan more. Pushking back against Buzbee's own efforts to have the West Coast case killed, Jay-Z told in the court in a February 10 declaration the 'career-ending' accusations of assaulting a 13-year-old girl ripped into his business and his family — the former to the tune of $20 million a year and a loss of reputation. Judge Epstein hasn't made a final ruling yet and the next hearing is on the calendar for late March. Yet, it seems pretty clear that the dispute with Buzbee is now very personal, still on, and Jay-Z wants to take this as far as it will go. In that pursuit, the 'Empire State of Mind' performer may be receiving some assistance from his former co-defendant Diddy on the East Coast. Paperwork placed in the Southern District Of New York court docket late Tuesday in the 2004 sexual assault civil case filed back in October by a Jane Doe, now identified as Candice McCrary by Combs' legal team slammed Buzbee as having presented a false picture of his ability to practice in the jurisdiction – where he has about a dozen cases against the much accused and currently incarcerated Diddy. 'In our collective decades of practice, undersigned counsel have never opposed a pro hac vice application, and we do not do so lightly here,' wrote Comb's Sher Tremonte lawyers in an opposition memorandum to Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. 'But Buzbee's egregious misconduct warrants denial of the privilege of appearing in this District,' they added of the Texan's February 24 formal pro hac vice request to be allowed to be in court in the jurisdiction where he cannot practice Not for the first time, Buzbee himself pushed back a few days ago against Combs' long stated criticism. The attorney posted a Lone Star flag flying letter stating that he has the right to practice in the Empire state. However, perhaps splitting legal hairs, Buzbee made no mention of the fact that a lawyer must seeking individual admission to be allowed to appear in District Court in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. In his posting Buzbee left out that on February 13, the day before the action against Diddy and Jay-Z was dropped, the Chair of the Committee on Grievances for the Southern District of New York publicly denied Buzbee's request for admission. Buzbee did mention in his February 24 application for pro hac vice for McCrary that he was 'recently denied admission to the bar of the Southern District of New York based in large part on' a grievance raised against him by lawyers for Combs and Carter. He does not explicitly state, as the Committee on Grievances did, that he was denied admission for appearing in several SDNY cases against Combs without having previously sought said admission. Perhaps knowing he will face challenges on all the other New York cases against Combs he is involved in, Buzbee also did not seem to mention that the Committee on Grievances demanded he must attach their order denying him admission to practice in the district to ant pro hac vice motion or petition In that vein, Combs' attorneys go on to say in Tuesday's opposition memo: Buzbee's motion for admission pro hac vice should be denied because he has repeatedly shown that he is unwilling or unable to follow this District's Local Rules and because his application is deficient. For nearly five months, Buzbee has filed case after case in this District against Defendants in the name of anonymous plaintiffs without seeking admission of any kind and without disclosing his lack of admission (until raised by a court or adversary). He did not apply for admission to practice in this District until January 29, 2025, more than six weeks after his failure to do so was publicized in a letter filed by opposing counsel, five weeks after he represented to another Judge in this District that he intended to apply for admission (which he only did after opposing counsel disclosed Buzbee's lack of admission), and two weeks after he represented to another Judge in this district that his application was after Buzbee was expressly put on notice by the Committee on Grievances that making repeated submissions to courts in a District where he is not authorized to practice violates the Local Rules —a concept so fundamental to the practice of law it requires no forewarning— Buzbee took no corrective action. Instead, he continued making filings in this District without noting his lack of admission until this Court required him to seek pro hac vice admission. If this Court had not noticed that Buzbee was practicing without being admitted, there is every reason to believe he would have continued to do so because that is precisely what Buzbee is doing in more than twenty other cases pending in this District. Even after declaring in a February 20, 2025 affidavit submitted to this Court that his errors were inadvertent and he will 'make certain such [conduct] never occurs again,' he has failed to seek admission pro hac vice in any of the other pending has signed multiple filings across twenty-two cases without permission to practice in this Court; he failed in each instance to disclose that he had filed without being admitted; and he violated New York's Rules of Professional Conduct by, among other things, repeatedly insisting that Mr. Combs is guilty of the criminal charges pending against him in this District, even though Buzbee has no good faith basis to believe the Government will call any of his clients as a witness in that case. For these reasons, discussed in detail below, this Court should deny Buzbee's pro hac vice application. Buzbee's office did not respond to request from Deadline for comment on Combs' latest filing. Unlike many accused of such sex crimes, the usually very private Jay-Z has been insisting on his innocence at virtually every turn, and very public at Hollywood premieres, at Christmas Day NFL game, at the Grammys, the Super Bowl and more. On the other hand, Sean 'Diddy' Combs is behind bars at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been ever since his September 16 arrest. Failing on several occasions to get released on $50 million bail and looking at life in prison if found guilty in the criminal case, a not guilty pleading and prosecutors attacking Combs is set to go to trial on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges starting May 5. Tony Buzbee has nothing to do with that criminal case. Best of Deadline How To Watch The 2025 Oscars Online And On TV How Jon Gries' Return To 'The White Lotus' Could Shape Season 3 Which Colleen Hoover Books Are Becoming Movies? 'Verity,' 'Reminders Of Him' & 'Regretting You' Will Join 'It Ends With Us'
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
Shooting suspect rang friend and said 'she's dead'
The man suspected of fatally shooting Lisa Smith outside a pub in Kent called friends after it happened and revealed what he had done, the BBC has been told. Edvard Stockings, also known by the surname Smith, called Leslie Thompson less than two hours after the shooting outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt and told him: "She's dead, I love you. I'll see you on the other side." Mr Thompson said the call had convinced him Mr Stockings shot his wife after having a breakdown. Police said officers believed Mr Stockings then drove to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, near Dartford, and entered the River Thames. His body has not been found after more than three days of searches along the river. Ms Smith, 43, was shot dead in the car park of the pub shortly after 19:00 GMT on Valentines' Day. A CCTV camera nearby captured the sound of three gunshots, followed by shouting and screaming. Mr Thompson told the BBC that his phone rang at around 20:50, and Mr Stockings told him: "I can't live, we've all gone together" and that "armed police will probably shoot me." Police said call handlers had received reports of a man "on the wrong side of the barrier" on the bridge on Friday. In a statement on Monday the force said he had "fallen" into the river. The search operation has involved the Coastguard, RNLI, London Fire Brigade drones and a Metropolitan Police boat team. A car and gun, linked to the suspect, were found "next to the Dartford crossing", the police said. Those close to the couple said they were "bewildered" by their deaths, another friend said on Monday. Ms Smith, who also used the surname Stockings, leaves behind two children - one of them in his 20s, the other younger. A family social media post paying tribute to the couple has received hundreds of comments, with friends and relatives saying they are "heartbroken". Mr Thompson said he had known Mr Stockings for more than 30 years and the shooting did not make sense, adding: "They were both the life and soul of the party. We really don't know why he has done it. I'm baffled." He added that Mr Stockings was "unbelievably close" to his father and had been deeply affected by his death two years ago. "He's had a breakdown," Mr Thompson concluded, adding he was "one million percent sure... [Mr Stockings is] in the river." Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Woman shot dead on Valentine's Day named Manhunt continues after Valentine's Day shooting Woman killed in Valentine's Day pub shooting Kent Police
