Jay-Z’s Accuser Can Remain Anonymous for Now, Judge Rules

Jay-Z’s request to dismiss the rape lawsuit filed against him earlier this month was denied by the presiding judge, who also ruled that his accuser can remain anonymous — “at least for now.”

In the ruling, handed down on Thursday, New York Judge Analisa Torres also criticized the rapper’s legal team for what she called “relentless filing of combative motions containing inflammatory language and ad hominem attacks” against the attorneys representing the accuser.

Judge Torres ruled that the woman, identified only as a Jane Doe, can remain anonymous during the early stages of the lawsuit, but may be required to make her identity public if the case goes to trial.

The lawsuit, filed in October, initially accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of rape and sexual assault at an afterparty in New York City following the 2000 Video Music Awards, when the accuser was 13. On Dec. 8, she amended the complaint to also accuse Jay-Z of drugging and raping her during this event.

The rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has vociferously denied the accusations, and after the accuser admitted in an interview with NBC News that her story has multiple inconsistencies, his legal team moved to have the suit dismissed.

Among those inconsistencies, her father has said he doesn’t remember picking her up that night, as stated in the lawsuit, at least one of the celebrities mentioned in the lawsuit say they weren’t in New York on the night in question, and photos from that night show both Jay-Z and Combs in a different location. NBC noted during the broadcast that “inconsistencies in her account of the incident do not necessarily mean the allegations are false.”

At the time of the interview, Jay-Z said in a statement provided to TheWrap that “Today’s investigative report proves” the woman’s lawyer “filed a false complaint against me in the pursuit of money and fame. This incident didn’t happen and yet he filed it in court and doubled down in the press. True Justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over before it began. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t realize it yet, but, soon.”

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