• Jay-Z was named in an amended statement of claim to a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs filed in October.

• The filing accuses Jay-Z and Combs of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000.

• Experts said Jay-Z’s reaction could have been stronger if she had explicitly denied the claims.

According to a crisis PR expert, Jay-Z’s response to the rape allegations against him is somewhat lacking.

The “99 Problems” singer – real name Shawn Carter – was accused in a civil lawsuit on Sunday of drugging a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000 alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs and having raped.

Carter responded to the “abhorrent” allegations hours later in a statement posted on the

“Whoever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, don’t you agree?” The statement reads in part. “These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”

Still, the statement “does not contain a clear denial that he ever engaged in such behavior in this case or anywhere else,” said Evan Nierman, CEO of crisis public relations firm Red Banyan.

“I think Jay-Z has been emphatic about the heinous nature of the crimes and stated that he believes they are ruthless,” Nierman said. “But I would have liked a more categorical rejection.”

The allegations against Carter stem from one of numerous civil sexual assault lawsuits filed against Combs, who is in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial on various sex trafficking charges. Combs has denied the allegations made against him.

In the original lawsuit, filed in October, anonymous plaintiff Jane Doe of Alabama accused Combs of raping her at a party in New York City while two other unnamed celebrities looked on. The stars were identified only as “Celebrity A” and “Celebrity B” in the civil lawsuit.

In the updated lawsuit filed Sunday, Carter is identified as “Celebrity A.”

The other celebrity was described as “female” but was otherwise not identified in court documents.

Attorneys for Carter and Combs did not respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment. A day after Carter’s statement was released, his attorney, Alex Spiro, more forcefully denied the allegations in a court filing.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Carter is completely innocent,” he wrote. “This is a shakedown.”

A PR expert says Jay-Z’s statement was “brave.”

In his social media statement, Carter took aim at Buzbee, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiff, saying that his lawyer “received an extortion attempt” to pressure him into an out-of-court settlement. He has separately filed an extortion lawsuit against Buzzbee.

Buzbee told Business Insider that he sent a letter to Carter requesting that Carter and the plaintiff mediate before Sunday’s filing.

The amended complaint said Carter responded to the letter with a lawsuit and “orchestrated a conspiracy to harass, bully and intimidate” to prevent the accuser from using his name.

Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at Los Angeles-based Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP, told Business Insider that the back-and-forth negotiations Carter mentioned were typical, “particularly in a case involving a high-level individual.”

What caught people’s attention was the more casual tone of Jay-Z’s statement, which includes informally styled words in all caps and a sentence that ends with two exclamation points.

“It gave him the bravery he’s known for,” Nierman told Business Insider. Nierman reiterated his rough upbringing – “I’m a young man who made it out of Project Brooklyn” – and added that he “says, ‘You misjudged me by trying to play me like that, how you treat other people.’ “

Despite the informal tone, Dowlatshahi said it was very likely that the statement was written in collaboration with lawyers and publicists.

“I thought it was unorthodox but important coming from him,” Dowlatshahi told Business Insider. “It personalizes everything he’s going through instead of being defensive.”

Carter’s statement said his accuser’s attorney should “file a criminal complaint, not a civil lawsuit!” Still, only prosecutors representing the government, not individual accusers, can file criminal charges.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney leading the criminal case against Combs in Manhattan, told Business Insider in October that the “investigation is very active and ongoing” when asked whether additional people would be charged.

Nierman and Dowlatshahi said it was still wise of Carter to point out that he was not accused of a crime.

“Something like this, which is essentially the rape of a 13-year-old, is not something you think about after the fact and change your complaint,” Dowlatshahi said. “It is something that is at the forefront of a case, and typically a criminal case.”

Experts do not believe that the allegations will damage Jay-Z’s reputation if it is an isolated incident

Nierman and Dowlatshahi believe Jay-Z is too rich and powerful for the lawsuit to ultimately damage his reputation.

He is “too big to cancel and his brand is too strong to be destroyed by a civil lawsuit,” Nierman said.

Dowlatshahi agreed. “It’s a pretty isolated thing at the moment.”

If further allegations emerge against Carter or he faces criminal charges, charges or arrest, it could mean the end of his career.

“This is a civil lawsuit brought by an attorney who was very aggressive with his collection letters and pursued celebrities to secure financial compensation for his client,” Nierman said. “So I don’t think this is a permanent stain on Jay-Z’s brand.”

Nierman and Dowlatshahi said Carter’s mention of the impact of the allegations on conversations with his children, whom he shares with Beyoncé, humanized him even outside of his celebrity persona.

Nierman said Carter made his response “personal” by directly questioning Buzbee’s integrity and values. “When you come out of the stadium with a statement as strong as Jay-Z’s and make it so personal, both in his defense of himself and his attack on his accuser, he’s already ready,” Nierman said. “It will be very difficult to get back from there. That’s why I expect him to be extremely aggressive in defending his reputation.”

On Monday, Carter’s attorney filed numerous motions in federal court to dismiss the case or reveal the identity of the accuser in the civil lawsuit.

“These allegations are not about justice for the victims. “It is also not about giving victims of sexual violence a voice,” Carter’s attorney, Alex Spiro, wrote in a filing. “Instead, they are merely the next chapter in Attorney Buzbee’s sprawling extortion saga — a saga whose aim is low and measured in dollars.”

Spiro did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Dowlatshahi said this was a standard next step as Carter’s team explored every possible option to fend off the claims. According to Nierman, the aggressive strategy works in the court of public opinion.

“Jay-Z is not defined by these allegations,” Nierman said. “I don’t think this will be a footnote to his obituary at all.”

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