By Heather Gann
Rapper Shawn Corey Carter, otherwise known as Jay-Z, on Tuesday filed an amended lawsuit in Alabama district court to include a New York lawyer he claims was involved in efforts to defraud and extort him.
The complaint alleges that Antigone Curis, along with attorneys Tony Buzbee and David Fortney, and a Jane Doe from Alabama, publicly filed “an explosive, false, and malicious complaint” against him.
In March, the Alabama Jane Doe who sued Jay-Z claimed Buzbee “pushed” her to falsely accuse the music mogul of raping her, along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, in a since-dismissed lawsuit.
She told private investigators that Buzbee — who’s representing over 100 Diddy accusers — encouraged her to sue Jay-Z for allegedly assaulting her at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, when she was 13 years old, according to a report from New York Daily News and Tribune News Service.
Jay-Z filed a defamation lawsuit that same month against the Jane Doe, Buzbee, and Fortney, alleging the woman’s claims cost him $20 million.
The complaint further claims that “Buzbee directed his employees to edit Wikipedia pages to enhance Buzbee’s image and damage Mr. Carter’s and Roc Nation’s reputations.”
It alleges that users with an IP address directly linked to the Buzbee Firm made over 100 positive edits to Buzbee’s Wikipedia page while also negatively doctoring Carter’s.
Carter refiled the amended complaint to add Curis this week, alleging that Buzbee, who is not authorized to practice law in the Southern District of New York, used Curis’ electronic filing access with her knowledge to file Carter’s case in the original complaint.
“Judges in the SDNY have opined that the Buzbee Defendants used Curis to hide from the courts that they are not admitted to practice in the SDNY,” the complaint reads.
“…In doing so, Curis furthered the aims of the conspiracy by becoming a direct participant in her co-defendants’ scheme against Mr. Carter and aiding and abetting their actions to Mr. Carter’s significant financial and personal detriment.”
The complaint also alleges that Buzbee and Curis have used this tactic more than once.
Efforts to reach Buzbee and Curis for comment were not immediately successful.