Why is Jay-Z’s r*pe accuser asking the court to dismiss his defamation lawsuit? Drama explained

In April 2025, the unnamed woman who accused Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs of r*ping her when she was 13 filed a motion in Alabama to dismiss the defamation suit he brought against her and her attorney, Tony Buzbee. She argues that her allegations were made in official court documents and recapped in an NBC News interview, both of which she says are privileged and thus cannot serve as the basis for defamation claims.

Jay-Z filed his lawsuit after the plaintiff voluntarily withdrew her original r*pe complaint in February 2025, alleging those claims were false and damaging to his reputation. Her new motion asks the court to dismiss his defamation suit with prejudice, preventing any refining.

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The accuser says her court statements are protected by privilege

In her April 22 filing, the accuser contends that every statement at issue appeared in her initial civil complaint or subsequent legal declarations and is therefore shielded by absolute litigation privilege. She notes that her NBC News interview merely restated those court filings and cannot be treated as an independent, defamatory publication.

By emphasizing the privileged nature of sworn pleadings, the motion argues that Jay-Z’s defamation counts fail as a matter of law. The request includes a plea to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the case would be over for good unless the court finds a privilege exception applies.

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Jay-Z’s lawsuit describes the allegations as false and opportunistic

Jay-Z’s March 3 defamation suit claims that the accuser and her lawyers

“were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth and the most fundamental precepts of human decency”.

The complaint quotes his legal team:

“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”.

It further alleges that Tony Buzbee

“pushed her to go forward with the false narrative of the assault by Mr. Carter to leverage a maximum payday”.

Jay-Z seeks unspecified damages for reputational harm, emotional distress, and lost contracts.

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Legal teams spar over credibility and evidence

Jay-Z’s lawyers have pointed to an NBC News investigation that found several claims in the original suit “false or highly doubtful,” including timeline and location inconsistencies. They also rely on a private-investigator transcript in which the accuser appears to admit uncertainty and suggests Buzbee “kind of pushed me toward going forward with” the case.

In turn, Buzbee has accused Carter’s team of harassing and intimidating the woman:

“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 hasn’t, and won’t”.

Courts will next decide whether the privileged filings defense or anti-SLAPP protections apply.

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The motion to dismiss marks another twist in a dispute that began with a withdrawn civil suit in New York and evolved into parallel defamation claims in Alabama and California. As of April 23, 2025, no ruling has been issued on the privilege arguments or on whether Jay-Z’s defamation cause of action can proceed. Legal observers note that a dismissal with prejudice would bar any future refiling, potentially ending this chapter of litigation. Meanwhile, both sides are preparing for further briefing and possible appeals, underscoring the case’s high stakes.

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