While P. Diddy sits in prison awaiting his trial date on federal charges of sex trafficking and other crimes, the case against Jay-Z in a lawsuit accusing him and Diddy of the alleged rape of a minor in 2000 were dropped earlier this month. Now a defamation lawsuit filed by the “Empire State of Mind” artist against Tony Buzbee, the lawyer who filed the suit, is likely going forward, and Diddy’s lawyers have added their own claims regarding Buzbee’s alleged “egregious misconduct.”
Tony Buzbee previously said he was representing more than 120 clients in civil lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs, including one alleging the rape of a 13-year-old after the 2000 MTV VMAs. Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) filed a suit against Buzbee in November. While L.A. Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein refused in a tentative ruling on February 25 to pursue extortion claims against the Houston-based lawyer, per documents via Deadline, the rapper’s defamation case is likely to move forward. Epstein said:
The conduct alleged raises serious questions about whether Buzbee acted with actual malice, a key component in defamation cases involving public figures.
P. Diddy was named in the lawsuit filed in October on behalf of the then-13-year-old, but two others were unnamed — a male Celebrity A and female Celebrity B. Judge Epstein said that Tony Buzbee “liked” social media posts that claimed Jay-Z was Celebrity A, which could indicate a degree of malice that would be required to pursue a defamation case.
Meanwhile, Diddy (aka Sean Combs) and his legal team also filed paperwork on February 25 against Tony Buzbee, saying he presented a false picture of his ability to practice law in the Southern District of New York, where the lawyer reportedly has about a dozen cases against the music mogul. In an opposition memorandum to Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, Diddy’s lawyers wrote:
In our collective decades of practice, undersigned counsel have never opposed a pro hac vice application, and we do not do so lightly here. But Buzbee’s egregious misconduct warrants denial of the privilege of appearing in this District.
The mentioned pro hac vice request would have allowed the Texas-based attorney in the court in the jurisdiction where he can’t practice, Deadline reported.
These legal moves against Tony Buzbee come nearly two weeks after the case involving the 13-year-old and the post-VMAs party was dropped on February 14. Jay-Z responded with a stern message posted to Roc Nation’s social media, which read, in part:
This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere. The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. 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. This 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The system has failed.
Time will tell if the system will find wrongdoing in Tony Buzbee’s actions against Jay-Z, with the next step being Judge Epstein’s final ruling on the rapper’s defamation lawsuit.
A hearing date is set for late March, and we'll be sure to keep you updated on the situation.
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