An alleged audio recording has been shared that’s reported to find the woman who initially accused Jay-Z of sexual assault walking back her claims, with the Roc Nation founder’s lawyer saying he hopes this is the “final chapter” in the legal saga.
But first, a quick catchup on what all has transpired: In December, Jay, alongside Diddy, was accused in a civil suit of raping a 13-year-old at a VMAs afterparty in 2000. Jay’s response to the claims was swift, including a public statement accusing the woman’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of being part of a larger blackmail attempt. By February, the suit in question had been voluntarily dismissed, while a defamation suit from Jay is still in motion.
Per a report from ABC News on Wednesday, private investigators met with the Jane Doe several days after the suit was dropped, resulting in the excerpt included as part of correspondent Aaron Katersky’s interview with Jay’s lawyer, Alex Spiro. In the recording, one private investigator is heard asking the woman, “But Jay-Z was, you’re saying he was definitely there? But he had no part in it?”
The woman responds, saying “He was there.” A second private investigator is then heard asking, “He was just there but he didn’t have anything to do with any sexual acts toward you, it was strictly—“ before she’s cut off by the accuser saying, “Yeah.” Elsewhere in the tape, as heard below, the woman is heard telling investigators that her legal rep “was the one who kind of pushed me toward going forward with him, with Jay-Z.”
According to Spiro, the conversation between the private investigators and the accuser came about after “people around Mr. Carter wanted to know what happened behind closed doors.” Spiro added that “the tape speaks for itself,” arguing that the “only reason” Jay was named in the first place was because the accuser was “pushed” to do so by her lawyer. Buzbee has denied this, with a separate audio recording included in Wednesday’s ABC report featuring a portion of a conversation between the lawyer and the Jane Doe.
In that conversation, Buzbee is heard asking, “They say that they have you on tape denying that Jay-Z assaulted you. Is that true?” The accuser responds with “No, I never said that” and also offers a denial in response to Buzbee’s question about her saying he “pushed” her to name Jay in the suit. Meanwhile, the Jane Doe is quoted in a filing as saying that she stands by her claims, despite voluntarily dropping the case.
When asked about this, Spiro said that the woman was not coerced or threatened or otherwise influenced to say what was heard on the recording.
“She told them her truth, which was under no circumstances did Mr. Carter do this,” Spiro said. “And number two, the only reason he’s even involved in this is she was pushed to introduce him by a lawyer.”
Spiro also said that Jay doesn’t know the woman, nor has he ever met her, adding that there’s “no truth” to her claims.
“The truth had to fully come out,” Spiro told Katersky when asked about the legal action Jay has taken in response to the claims. “This person cannot be allowed to hide from the reality that this was a false accusation.”
Diddy, meanwhile, is currently behind bars ahead of his racketeering and trafficking trial. This week, an unrelated amended complaint saw both Druski and Odell Beckham Jr. being named alongside Diddy, spurring public statements from all three denying the allegations. Druski, notably, called the allegation a “fabricated lie” and pointed out that he “wasn’t a public figure” at the time the alleged assault is purported to have occurred.
View news Source: https://www.complex.com/music/a/tracewilliamcowen/jay-z-accuser-audio-recording
