Just a warning that this podcast will deal with matters of sexual assault and rape. So if this topic is not for you, skip today and we'll be back again this afternoon with your evening headlines already And this is the Daily This is the Daily OS. Oh now it makes sense. Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Thursday, the twelfth of December. I'm Billy, I'm Zara.
This week, rapper jay Z has been accused of raping a thirteen year old girl in two thousand, alongside Sean Combes, who also goes by Diddy, in a civil lawsuit filed in the US over the weekend. Jay Z has strongly denied the allegation, as has Combs. It's the latest in a string of allegations that have scented around Combs, but it's the first time we've heard any such allegation against jay Z.
Billy really big story, not because of the power and the influence of someone like jay Z, and especially because it comes off the back, as you said, of all of these allegations that Diddy is facing. And we have done a separate podcast on that to give everyone a bit of a refresher though as to why this story does matter to you know, even us here in Australia. Who are these two men and why are we talking about them?
Yeah, they're two very famous men. But I think it's important to just give a brief bit of context. So jay Z is a very successful rapper. He's won twenty four Grammy Awards over his career. In twenty nineteen, Forbes declared him hip hop's first billionaire. And that's partly because he's also a very successful businessman. A lot of people will also know that he is married to Beyonce and his real name is Sean Carter. But just for clarity for this podcast, we're going to go by jay Z
and then to Combs. He is also a rapper and he is also a producer. He founded bad Boy Records in nineteen ninety and that music label has represented some of the world's most famous rappers, including the notorious Big who might be familiar. But most recently, Combs has been investigated over several allegations, including sexual abuse, assault, trafficking, and also domestic violence.
Okay, and so, as I said, we have spoken about those allegations before and about how shocking, you know, the vast number of them and the nature of them are. But today we're talking about this new allegation and that involves jay Z and came to light earlier this week. Can you tell me a bit about that.
Yeah, So this allegation that centers around jay Z isn't actually new. What's new is that jay Z has been named publicly in it. So the lawsuit was initially filed in October this year in New York with Comes as a sole defendant. It did mention another person, but only as the anonymous pseudonym that is often used in US cases, which is John Doe for men and then Jane Doe for women. So it did mention John Doe, but it has since been refiled over the weekend to name jay Z.
Okay, so you're saying, there was this existing lawsuit that was filed earlier in the year. It mentioned Sean Combs, it didn't mention jay Z. In recent days, it's now been refiled and it now includes jay Z's name. Yes, and that was made public this week.
Yes, And in the initial one it did say that there was a high profile male that had allegedly raped this victim, but it just didn't say who that was, Like we said, now it does say who that is. Okay, So I'll go through how this alleged rape played out, but I do just want to say a quick warning that this part will include some details that could definitely be distressing to some listeners, So maybe just skip ahead a few minutes if you're not in the right head
space to listen to this. In terms of the incident, it is alleged to have occurred at an MTV Video Musical Wards after party in two thousand, so we're going back nearly twenty five years. It's alleged that a thirteen year old girl who is anonymous in this lawsuit, we do not know her identity, she went to this after party.
She didn't have a ticket, but she wanted to get in, and she spoke to a number of different drivers that were outside, and one of the drivers that she spoke to was Combs's driver, and he allegedly said to her
that she quote fit what Diddy was looking for. He then invited her to a party, which she went to, and she said that she arrived to this large white residence with a gated U shaped driveway, and it is alleged that a lot of people at this party were high profile and also that there was a lot of
drugs going around. She says that she was then given a drink which made her feel woozy and lightheaded, and that led her to go to a room by herself and lie down, and it's at that point that she said that Combs, jay Z, and also an unidentified female celebrity entered that room. It's then alleged that she was raped by jay Z first while Combs watched, and then she was raped by Combs, and it's also alleged that
an unnamed female celebrity watched it whilst this happened. The lawsuit says that the girl began hitting CON's mid rape and she was then able to escape, and she apparently went to a local petrol station and her father then picked her up.
I do think it's important here to reiterate that we are talking about someone who was thirteen at the time, and that these allegations, of course, remain untested at the time that we are talking about them today. How has jay Z responded to these allegations, because you know, they are very severe allegations.
Yeah, jay Z has very strongly denied the allegation. He released a statement via his production company Rock Nation that was quite lengthy. I'll read out some of it. He said, whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away. Would you not agree these alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case. He
also added, my only heartbreak is for my family. My wife Beyonce, and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims. So that was a big part of his response, kind of detailing the personal impact that this kind of allegation is going to have on him and his family. But another really big part of his
response focus on the lawyer of the plaintiff. So the lawyer of this unnamed thirteen year old girl who is obviously now an adult, and the lawyer's name is Tony Busby. We've actually since learnt in the days since this allegation was made public that in the weeks before it was made public, jay Z has actually sued this lawyer. So there is an ongoing battle between jay Z and jay Z's lawyers and also this girl's lawyers.
Okay, so before jay Z's name was made public, he had already begun legal proceedings against the complainant's lawyer about something else or about.
Yes, about this, because there had been a lot of communication between them prior to the public finding out about this allegation. To put it really simply, jay Z saying that this lawyer is just going after him for his money. That is the very clear inference in all of the
statements that jay Z has put out. So jay Z claims that this lawyer quote blackmailed him in the weeks before this lawsuit was filed by saying that jay Z should settle the case otherwise the allegation would be made public, which, of course now we know that this allegation has been made public and jay Z has not settled, And in part of jay Z's statement that is directed to the lawyer said, I will not give you one red penny, So he's saying you will not get any money out
of me. We are going to take this to court if you think that it needs to go there now. Jay Z has also encouraged the alleged victim and her lawyer to file a criminal complaint instead of a civil one.
Yeah, I did want to pick up on that because you mentioned earlier that. Jay Z's statement also said something about the fact that whoever commits a crime like this should be locked away. And he's talking there about the fact that this, as you just said, is a civil case not a criminal case. What are the differences and what do we know about what that means in jay Z's particular case.
Yeah, it's a really really important point. So to give a very brief overview, there are two types of cases at a court. There's either civil or criminal. Like you said, this is civil and in civil cases it involves a dispute between two parties, with one party seeking some form of damages. And that's different to criminal cases where the state. So think of that as like the police they bring charges against a party for violation of a criminal law. Now,
the other difference is the burden of proof. So in a civil case in the US, the party bringing the case has to prove the allegations by a preponderance of the evidence.
Not a term we're used to hear in the No, if you've.
Never heard of that phrase before, you're definitely not alone in Australia, quizzed me on this. Yeah, in Australia we call it on the balance of probabilities, and it's the exact same thing. It just means that in a civil case you need to prove that something is more likely to have happened than not, and that is lower than the criminal standard, which is beyond a reasonable doubt. So I think you can kind of think about it in percentages.
If you're fifty one percent sure that something did happen, then that does meet the burden of proof in civil cases, but for a criminal case, you have to basically be one hundred percent sure that something did hap happen. The other critical part of this is that a prison sentence is also not an option in civil proceedings, which is why jay Z said, do you not think that someone should be in jail if this did happen? Whereas in a criminal case it can result in a prison sentence.
But a civil case can lead to criminal charges being laid right.
Yes it can, but no one goes to jail because of it, because of the civil case.
Yes, okay, all right, So sorry I distracted you for a second then, but we were talking about the fact that jay Z had actually already sued this then thirteen year old lawyer. How has that lawyer since responded? You know now that everything's kind of out in the open.
So Tony buzzby the lawyer. He is saying that he has simply followed the legal practice, and that's sending what he called a basic litigation demand letter to jay Z is not blackmail, but rather just regular practice. He also said, and this is a quote, I won't be bullied or intimidated. People will see through this effort to discredit me and
my clients, and the truth will be revealed. I also won't allow anyone to scare my clients into silence, and he said that he quote won't get bogged down in a silly side show that tries to make the lawyers the focus of what are very serious allegations brought by a courageous woman. There is a lot to this story. I've kind of just scratched the surface of the arguments that are now playing out in the legal system in
the US. But I hope that kind of gives you a brief overview of the allegation that is now before jay Z and what the fallout from that has been.
I must say, it does feel like we're going through a second wave of the Me too movement. You know, of course, these are just allegations. Nobody has been found guilty of any of these crimes. They are just allegations. But this idea of very high profile, very influential men in the entertainment industry having these allegations leveled against them. It does feel like what we were seeing a couple of years back, and it'll be fascinating to see where this story goes from here.
Yeah. I think the first Me Too movement was very focused on the acting industry at Hollywood. Yeah, and this feels very focused on the music industry. And what's also important to say is that there are so many unidentified people who are in these lawsuits and it will be fascinating to see if their names do come to life. Yeah.
Look a really important story, Billy, thank you for taking us through that. Do just want to say that if this podcast has brought up anything for you, you can call one eight hundred respect on one eight hundred seven three seven seven three to two. We'll be back again later today with the headlines, but until then, take care of yourself.
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda Bunje lung Chalcuttin woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gatighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.