Jay-Z rape accuser comes ahead to NBC Information, acknowledges inconsistencies in her allegations

HOUSTON — An Alabama girl who accused Jay-Z and Diddy of raping her when she was 13 years previous sat down with NBC Information to recount what she referred to as a “catastrophic occasion”: a limo experience to a white home, a drink that made her really feel woozy, a sexual assault by rap stars that will spoil her life.

However the girl and her attorneys additionally acknowledge that there have been some inconsistencies in her account in response to questions from NBC Information.

“I’ve made some errors” in recollections of that night time, the girl, recognized as Jane Doe within the lawsuit filed in opposition to Jay-Z and Diddy, informed NBC Information. The lady stated she stands by her allegations general. The inconsistencies in her account of the incident — alleged to have occurred 24 years in the past — don’t essentially imply the allegations are false.

Among the many inconsistencies: The lady stated her father picked her up after the alleged sexual assault, however he says he doesn’t recall that. The lady additionally claims she spoke to a celeb on the after-party the place she stated she was sexually assaulted, however that movie star stated he was not in New York at the moment. And pictures from that night present Jay-Z, whose actual identify is Shawn Carter, and Sean “Diddy” Combs at a special location than the one the girl described, though their whereabouts for the complete night are unclear.

“This incident didn’t occur,” Carter informed NBC Information in an announcement Friday, “and but he filed it in court docket and doubled down within the press,” he added, referring to one of many girl’s attorneys, Tony Buzbee. “True Justice is coming. We combat FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over earlier than it started. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t understand it but, however, quickly.”

Buzbee says he’s persevering with to vet her claims.

“Jane Doe’s case was referred to our agency by one other, who vetted it previous to sending it to us,” he informed NBC Information in an electronic mail. “Our consumer stays fiercely adamant that what she has said is true, to the perfect of her reminiscence. We are going to proceed to vet her claims and gather corroborating knowledge to the extent it exists. As a result of we now have interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to undergo a polygraph. I’ve by no means had a consumer counsel that earlier than.”

“In any occasion,” he added, “we at all times do our greatest to vet every declare made, simply as we did on this case. This has been extraordinarily distressing for her, to the purpose she has skilled seizures and needed to search medical remedy as a result of stress.”

The allegations in opposition to Carter counsel a seismic shift, probably linking the rap legend to the alleged habits specified by civil and felony circumstances in opposition to Combs, who’s in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial on federal intercourse trafficking and racketeering expenses.

Carter’s legal professional Alex Spiro stated, “It’s gorgeous {that a} lawyer wouldn’t solely file such a critical criticism with out correct vetting, however would make issues worse by additional peddling this false story within the press. We’re asking the Courtroom to dismiss this frivolous case at this time, and can take up the matter of further self-discipline for Mr. Buzbee and all of the attorneys that filed the criticism.”

Combs’ attorneys referred to as the go well with a “shameful cash seize.” Buzbee has filed greater than 20 lawsuits in opposition to Combs.

The lawsuit was initially filed in October within the Southern District of New York, itemizing Combs as a defendant, and it was refiled Sunday to call Carter as one other defendant.

NBC Information traveled to Houston to interview the girl, who declined to be recognized, at her legal professional’s workplace earlier this week.

“It’s best to at all times combat for what occurred to you,” she stated about why she goes public along with her accusations now. “It’s best to at all times advocate for your self and be a voice for your self. It’s best to by no means let what any person else did spoil or run your life. I simply hope I can provide others the energy to return ahead like I got here ahead.”

The lady, who’s now 38, informed NBC Information she was residing in Rochester, New York, in 2000 and that attending the VMAs was “on my bucket record at 13. It was like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ a type of issues I’ve acquired to do.” She stated she snuck out a window to evade her dad and mom.

A buddy drove her to Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in New York Metropolis, she stated within the lawsuit. Individuals thronged into viewing areas exterior the venue, which was decked out for the awards. Crowds roared when J.Lo arrived. Eminem carried out on the road.

She didn’t have a ticket, and stated within the go well with she watched a few of the present on a jumbotron exterior. She additionally began chatting up limo drivers. “I’m attempting to get in to attempt to keep again and get to an after-party and get invited in and meet some celebrities,” she informed NBC Information.

One limo driver stated he labored for Combs and that she “match what Diddy was in search of,” the go well with stated, and he informed her to return later and he’d take her to an after-party. After about 20 minutes within the limo, she stated within the go well with, she arrived at a “giant white residence with a gated U-shaped driveway.” She stated within the go well with she signed a doc that she didn’t learn.

Inside, she informed NBC Information, “I’m speaking to, like, Fred Durst, Benji Madden, about his tattoo, as a result of, you already know, about his tattoo that’s ‘The Final Supper,’ as a result of I’ve a spiritual background, so it was simply one thing to speak about.”

After accepting a drink from a waitress, she informed NBC Information: “I began feeling humorous. Tried to begin in search of a spot to put down.”

She discovered an empty room with a mattress in it, she stated within the go well with, and shortly after, Combs, Carter and a lady entered the room. “You might be able to celebration!” Combs stated, in line with the go well with.

Each Combs and Carter raped her, she stated. “Jay-Z comes over, holds me down. I begin attempting to push away. He places his hand over my mouth, tells me to cease it, to chop the shit, after which he rapes me like he had me overpowered,” she stated.

Afterward, she stated within the go well with, she managed to flee the home and ran to a gasoline station.

“I used to be upset, and the individual on the gasoline station might inform that I used to be clearly upset, and he or she let me use the telephone. I referred to as my dad as a result of he was the one individual I belief at the moment. I informed him I tousled and I wanted a experience residence,” she informed NBC Information. “We rode residence in silence. He didn’t ask me what occurred. He didn’t ask me what I did or the place I used to be.”

She informed NBC Information she by no means informed anybody concerning the alleged assault or wrote it down in a diary. “Even when any person discovered, who was gonna imagine me? I imply, it was to the phrase of two celebrities in opposition to mine,” she stated.

The years after have been arduous, she stated. “I acquired severely depressed. I withdrew utterly. My grades began slipping,” and he or she dropped out of faculty. She skilled homelessness, she stated, and at one level suffered a head harm. She and her father additionally stated she was raped later in life.

She now has two youngsters, a son and a daughter. She served lower than a yr within the Military Nationwide Guard and left with the rank of personal. She acquired her highschool diploma and “acquired my Christian counseling certification in order that I will help individuals who have gone by what I’ve gone by,” she stated.

She additionally stated she has her utilized habits evaluation certification so she will help folks with autism, which she says she has. “There are so little sources to mothers that don’t have the right quantity of earnings,” she stated.

Response was swift within the days for the reason that girl went public along with her allegations in opposition to Carter. The rapper launched an announcement calling the claims “idiotic” and “heinous in nature” and sharply criticizing her legal professional.

There are some inconsistencies in her story about that night time.

Her father informed NBC Information that he doesn’t recall choosing her up after the alleged assault, casting doubt on a key element in her lawsuit.

In response to their tackle on the time, her father would have pushed greater than 5 hours from their residence to select her up.

“I really feel like I might keep in mind that, and I don’t,” he stated in an interview Thursday. “I’ve so much occurring, however I imply, that’s one thing that will positively stick in my thoughts.”

The lady’s father, who stated he discovered of the alleged assault this week, added that he did bear in mind as soon as choosing her up in the course of the night time. However, he stated, it “was a neighborhood drive.”

Requested about her father’s account in a follow-up interview on Friday, the girl stated she stood by her declare that he had picked her up and that it’s doable he had misremembered.

“There are numerous issues, and that is stuff that we argue about always, one thing he stated or did again in New York round that point interval he simply doesn’t bear in mind,” she stated. “It really causes numerous fights generally within the family.”

Relating to her father’s recollections, Buzbee informed NBC Information, “We agree he states he doesn’t bear in mind. … His daughter explains that he was in no state to recollect throughout that cut-off date as a consequence of private points he was having then. We’re speaking a couple of time-frame greater than twenty years in the past.”

The lady additionally informed NBC Information she spoke with musician Benji Madden on the after-party.

However a consultant for Madden confirmed that neither Benji nor his brother Joel attended the 2000 VMAs and that they have been on tour within the Midwest at the moment. (The lady didn’t accuse the brothers of any wrongdoing.)

“Actually, what’s the clearest is what occurred to me and [the] route that I took to what occurred to me. Not all the faces there are as clear,” the girl stated within the Friday follow-up interview. “So I’ve made some errors. I could have made a mistake in figuring out.”

The lady additionally couldn’t present additional details about the after-party she stated she attended.

Skilled pictures reviewed by NBC Information present Combs and Carter have been among the many celebrities who attended a VMAs after-party on the Lotus nightclub in New York Metropolis. It’s not clear what time these pictures have been taken, or if Combs and Carter attended another after-parties.

The constructing that housed Lotus, now closed, doesn’t match the outline of the home the girl described within the lawsuit and interview.

“I didn’t know precisely the place we have been going and even how lengthy it took,” the girl stated when requested Tuesday the place she thought she was taken that night time. She added that she had guessed concerning the size of time the journey had taken within the lawsuit.

Buzbee stated, “We now have tried to verify the proper location. We now have by no means advised the placement was the Lotus membership. Our consumer has been very particular and detailed concerning the description of the venue she says she was taken to, and he or she has by no means said it was the Lotus Membership.”

He added, “We received’t speculate on whether or not there was an after-after celebration, as a result of once more, she doesn’t know that.”

Additionally among the many girl’s allegations that might not be corroborated is how she made it to New York Metropolis that night time.

One among her attorneys supplied NBC Information with the identify and start date of the buddy she stated drove her, who would have been 20 on the time. That individual seems to have since died. NBC Information’ makes an attempt to achieve the individual’s family members have been unsuccessful.