Weeks before Jay-Z was publicly named in a rape lawsuit an unnamed one While performing alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs as a young girl in 2000, rap mogul Shawn Carter received a letter from the plaintiff’s attorney threatening to “immediately file a public lawsuit” against him because, he agreed to resolve the allegations through mediation in exchange for financial compensation, his lawyers said.

Instead, his lawyers sued the lawyer behind the claim, Tony Buzbee, citing Jay-Z as John Doe. Buzbee has filed at least 20 civil lawsuits, initially by anonymous plaintiffs, against Combs, accusing him of sexual misconduct, and has used Instagram, a telephone hotline and a news conference to find clients.

Jay-Z’s lawyers accused Buzbee of trying to extort “exorbitant sums” from him through false claims of assault; They said they received letters from the anonymous woman about two clients, although only one was submitted. “Plaintiff is currently faced with a gun to his head,” they wrote in the lawsuit, filed Nov. 18 in Los Angeles.

“Either you repeatedly pay an exorbitant amount of money to stop the defendants from widely publishing completely false allegations of sexual assault that would bring shame to the plaintiff and cause irreparable harm to his reputation, his family, his career and his livelihood, or you will go along with it “face the threat of untold numbers of civil lawsuits and financial and personal ruin.”

Jay-Z denies the allegations, saying, “Anyone who would commit a crime like this against a minor should be locked up.” Combs is in prison awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He has denied the allegations.

Jay-Z wants to dismiss the case, claiming the court has no jurisdiction to hear such a lawsuit.

His attorney, Alex Spiro, asked the judge to expedite the hearing on the motion to dismiss “due to the extremely sensitive nature of this matter and the intense media scrutiny.”

Spiro described the case as “a shakedown.” (Carter) is not mentioned, referred to or implicated in any way in the criminal investigation against Mr. Combs. He is neither a target nor a person of interest in this investigation.”

Jay-Z’s lawyers have also argued that the unnamed woman should file her complaint under her real name because there is no sufficient reason why she should remain anonymous. “Mr. Carter deserves to know the identity of the person who is accusing him – in a sensationalistic and high-profile manner – of criminal conduct, seeking massive financial compensation and tarnishing a reputation built over decades,” attorney Spiro wrote.

On Dec. 8, Buzbee amended the lawsuit and named Carter, previously described as a John Doe and “celebrity and public figure,” as accused of raping the girl with Combs in 2000 when she was 13 years old.

A day later, Jay-Z’s lawyers said he was the John Doe behind the lawsuit against Buzbee.

In a public statement, Jay-Z accused Buzbee of “blackmail,” said Buzbee “made a terrible error in judgment” and lamented the impact of the allegations on his family with Beyoncé, particularly his eldest daughter Blue Ivy, 12.

Buzbee responded, accusing Jay-Z of orchestrating “a harassment conspiracy” against him and other lawyers at his firm in order to intimidate and silence his client.

On Monday, Buzbee told the New York Times that “sending a simple letter of complaint” is not tantamount to extortion or extortion and that he had asked Jay-Z for a “confidential conversation” to protect his client’s privacy.

“We will not get bogged down in a silly aside that attempts to put lawyers at the center of the serious allegations made by a courageous woman,” Buzbee told the Times.