Jay-Z Asks Court to Revive Extortion Case After Rape Accuser Recants

Key Points:

• Jay-Z, legally Shawn Carter, is seeking a rehearing in a California appeals court to revive his extortion and defamation lawsuit against lawyer Tony Buzbee, citing a sworn retraction from the woman who accused him of rape as "explosive new evidence."
• The woman’s new declaration, filed under oath, states she never met or was assaulted by Carter and that her prior allegations were false, attributing her initial claims to mental health issues disclosed to her lawyers before Buzbee’s firm publicly named Carter in the lawsuit.
• Carter argues the lawsuit was dismissed to protect Buzbee from a sanctions motion rather than to shield the woman from harassment, and he requests limited discovery to prove his claims, while the appeals court previously upheld dismissal, finding no evidence of actual malice by Buzbee.
• Despite efforts to revive the extortion and defamation claims, Carter continues to pursue malicious prosecution claims against Buzbee and his firm in New York, asserting the lawyers should have known the allegations were unsupported and inconsistent.
• Buzbee and his legal team have defended their actions, stating the woman consistently told the same story before meeting Buzbee, denying extortion accusations, and questioning the credibility of the woman’s recent retraction as potentially influenced or unreliable.