HOUSTON — An Alabama lady who accused Jay-Z and Diddy of raping her when she was 13 years outdated sat down with NBC Information to recount what she referred to as a “catastrophic occasion”: a limo journey to a white home, a drink that made her really feel woozy, a sexual assault by rap stars that will spoil her life.
However the lady and her legal professionals additionally acknowledge that there have been some inconsistencies in her account in response to questions from NBC Information.
“I’ve made some errors” in recollections of that night time, the lady, recognized as Jane Doe within the lawsuit filed towards Jay-Z and Diddy, advised NBC Information. The girl mentioned she stands by her allegations total. The inconsistencies in her account of the incident — alleged to have occurred 24 years in the past — don’t essentially imply the allegations are false.
From left, Jay-Z and Sean “Puffy” Combs, on Nov. 7, 2000.
Among the many inconsistencies: The girl mentioned her father picked her up after the alleged sexual assault, however he says he doesn’t recall that. The girl additionally claims she spoke to a celeb on the after-party the place she mentioned she was sexually assaulted, however that celeb mentioned he was not in New York at the moment. And pictures from that night present Jay-Z, whose actual title is Shawn Carter, and Sean “Diddy” Combs at a unique location than the one the lady described, though their whereabouts for all the night are unclear.
“This incident didn’t occur,” Carter advised NBC Information in a press release Friday, “and but he filed it in court docket and doubled down within the press,” he added, referring to one of many lady’s attorneys, Tony Buzbee. “True Justice is coming. We battle FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over earlier than it started. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t understand it but, however, quickly.”
Buzbee says he’s persevering with to vet her claims.
“Jane Doe’s case was referred to our agency by one other, who vetted it previous to sending it to us,” he advised NBC Information in an electronic mail. “Our consumer stays fiercely adamant that what she has said is true, to the perfect of her reminiscence. We are going to proceed to vet her claims and accumulate corroborating information to the extent it exists. As a result of we’ve got interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to undergo a polygraph. I’ve by no means had a consumer recommend that earlier than.”
“In any occasion,” he added, “we all the time do our greatest to vet every declare made, simply as we did on this case. This has been extraordinarily distressing for her, to the purpose she has skilled seizures and needed to search medical remedy as a result of stress.”
The allegations towards Carter recommend a seismic shift, doubtlessly linking the rap legend to the alleged habits specified by civil and legal circumstances towards Combs, who’s in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial on federal intercourse trafficking and racketeering fees.
Carter’s legal professional Alex Spiro mentioned, “It’s beautiful {that a} lawyer wouldn’t solely file such a critical criticism with out correct vetting, however would make issues worse by additional peddling this false story within the press. We’re asking the Court docket to dismiss this frivolous case immediately, and can take up the matter of extra self-discipline for Mr. Buzbee and all of the legal professionals that filed the criticism.”
Combs’ attorneys referred to as the go well with a “shameful cash seize.” Buzbee has filed greater than 20 lawsuits towards Combs.
The lawsuit was initially filed in October within the Southern District of New York, itemizing Combs as a defendant, and it was refiled Sunday to call Carter as one other defendant.
NBC Information traveled to Houston to interview the lady, who declined to be recognized, at her legal professional’s workplace earlier this week.
“It’s best to all the time battle for what occurred to you,” she mentioned about why she goes public along with her accusations now. “It’s best to all the time advocate for your self and be a voice for your self. It’s best to by no means let what any individual else did spoil or run your life. I simply hope I may give others the energy to come back ahead like I got here ahead.”
The girl, who’s now 38, advised NBC Information she was dwelling in Rochester, New York, in 2000 and that attending the VMAs was “on my bucket record at 13. It was like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ a type of issues I’ve acquired to do.” She mentioned she snuck out a window to evade her mother and father.
A good friend drove her to Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in New York Metropolis, she mentioned within the lawsuit. Folks thronged into viewing areas outdoors the venue, which was decked out for the awards. Crowds roared when J.Lo arrived. Eminem carried out on the road.
She didn’t have a ticket, and mentioned within the go well with she watched a few of the present on a jumbotron outdoors. She additionally began chatting up limo drivers. “I’m making an attempt to get in to attempt to keep again and get to an after-party and get invited in and meet some celebrities,” she advised NBC Information.
One limo driver mentioned he labored for Combs and that she “match what Diddy was on the lookout for,” the go well with mentioned, and he advised her to return later and he’d take her to an after-party. After about 20 minutes within the limo, she mentioned within the go well with, she arrived at a “massive white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway.” She mentioned within the go well with she signed a doc that she didn’t learn.
Inside, she advised NBC Information, “I’m speaking to, like, Fred Durst, Benji Madden, about his tattoo, as a result of, you understand, about his tattoo that’s ‘The Final Supper,’ as a result of I’ve a non secular background, so it was simply one thing to speak about.”
After accepting a drink from a waitress, she advised NBC Information: “I began feeling humorous. Tried to begin on the lookout for a spot to put down.”
She discovered an empty room with a mattress in it, she mentioned within the go well with, and shortly after, Combs, Carter and a girl entered the room. “You’re able to celebration!” Combs mentioned, in keeping with the go well with.
Each Combs and Carter raped her, she mentioned. “Jay-Z comes over, holds me down. I begin making an attempt to push away. He places his hand over my mouth, tells me to cease it, to chop the shit, after which he rapes me like he had me overpowered,” she mentioned.
Afterward, she mentioned within the go well with, she managed to flee the home and ran to a gasoline station.
“I used to be upset, and the particular person on the gasoline station might inform that I used to be clearly upset, and she or he let me use the telephone. I referred to as my dad as a result of he was the one particular person I belief at the moment. I advised him I tousled and I wanted a journey residence,” she advised NBC Information. “We rode residence in silence. He didn’t ask me what occurred. He didn’t ask me what I did or the place I used to be.”
She advised NBC Information she by no means advised anybody concerning the alleged assault or wrote it down in a diary. “Even when any individual discovered, who was gonna consider me? I imply, it was to the phrase of two celebrities towards mine,” she mentioned.
The years after had been arduous, she mentioned. “I acquired severely depressed. I withdrew fully. My grades began slipping,” and she or he dropped out of college. She skilled homelessness, she mentioned, and at one level suffered a head damage. She and her father additionally mentioned she was raped later in life.
She now has two kids, a son and a daughter. She served lower than a 12 months within the Military Nationwide Guard and left with the rank of personal. She acquired her highschool diploma and “acquired my Christian counseling certification in order that I may also help individuals who have gone by means of what I’ve gone by means of,” she mentioned.
She additionally mentioned she has her utilized habits evaluation certification so she may also help folks with autism, which she says she has. “There are so little sources to mothers that don’t have the correct quantity of revenue,” she mentioned.
Response was swift within the days for the reason that lady went public along with her allegations towards Carter. The rapper launched a press release calling the claims “idiotic” and “heinous in nature” and sharply criticizing her legal professional.
There are some inconsistencies in her story about that night time.
Her father advised NBC Information that he doesn’t recall choosing her up after the alleged assault, casting doubt on a key element in her lawsuit.
In response to their deal with on the time, her father would have pushed greater than 5 hours from their residence to select her up.
“I really feel like I’d do not forget that, and I don’t,” he mentioned in an interview Thursday. “I’ve rather a lot occurring, however I imply, that’s one thing that will positively stick in my thoughts.”
The girl’s father, who mentioned he realized of the alleged assault this week, added that he did keep in mind as soon as choosing her up in the midst of the night time. However, he mentioned, it “was a neighborhood drive.”
Requested about her father’s account in a follow-up interview on Friday, the lady mentioned she stood by her declare that he had picked her up and that it’s doable he had misremembered.
“There are plenty of issues, and that is stuff that we argue about continually, one thing he mentioned or did again in New York round that point interval he simply doesn’t keep in mind,” she mentioned. “It truly causes plenty of fights typically within the family.”
Relating to her father’s recollections, Buzbee advised NBC Information, “We agree he states he doesn’t keep in mind. … His daughter explains that he was in no state to recollect throughout that time limit attributable to private points he was having then. We’re speaking a couple of timeframe greater than twenty years in the past.”
The girl additionally advised NBC Information she spoke with musician Benji Madden on the after-party.
However a consultant for Madden confirmed that neither Benji nor his brother Joel attended the 2000 VMAs and that they had been on tour within the Midwest at the moment. (The girl didn’t accuse the brothers of any wrongdoing.)
“Truthfully, what’s the clearest is what occurred to me and [the] route that I took to what occurred to me. Not all the faces there are as clear,” the lady mentioned within the Friday follow-up interview. “So I’ve made some errors. I could have made a mistake in figuring out.”
The girl additionally couldn’t present additional details about the after-party she mentioned she attended.
Skilled pictures reviewed by NBC Information present Combs and Carter had been among the many celebrities who attended a VMAs after-party on the Lotus nightclub in New York Metropolis. It isn’t clear what time these pictures had been taken, or if Combs and Carter attended another after-parties.
The constructing that housed Lotus, now closed, doesn’t match the outline of the home the lady described within the lawsuit and interview.
“I didn’t know precisely the place we had been going and even how lengthy it took,” the lady mentioned when requested Tuesday the place she thought she was taken that night time. She added that she had guessed concerning the size of time the journey had taken within the lawsuit.
Buzbee mentioned, “We have now tried to verify the proper location. We have now by no means advised the placement was the Lotus membership. Our consumer has been very particular and detailed concerning the description of the venue she says she was taken to, and she or he has by no means said it was the Lotus Membership.”
He added, “We received’t speculate on whether or not there was an after-after celebration, as a result of once more, she doesn’t know that.”
Additionally among the many lady’s allegations that might not be corroborated is how she made it to New York Metropolis that night time.
One in all her attorneys supplied NBC Information with the title and start date of the good friend she mentioned drove her, who would have been 20 on the time. That particular person seems to have since died. NBC Information’ makes an attempt to succeed in the particular person’s kin had been unsuccessful.
This text was initially printed on NBCNews.com
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