Jay-Z Can Push to Revive His Extortion Case Against Tony Buzbee

The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her at a 2000 VMAs after-party told a judge under oath she never even met him. Now the courts are giving him a new opening to go after the lawyer who filed the case.

On Thursday, a California appeals court refused to rehear its ruling that killed Jay-Z’s extortion and defamation lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee. But it changed the ruling in one key way: a lower court can now order new discovery and reconsider the case based on the new evidence.

That new evidence is Jane Doe’s sworn declaration from Sept 24. In it, she said Jay-Z never raped her, she has never met or spoken to him, and there was “no truth” to any of her claims. She said she was not paid to recant and apologized for the damage her accusations caused his family.

Buzbee is not buying it. He has called the extortion suit “total bulls**t” and argued the woman is unreliable, suggesting she was paid to flip.

Quick rewind. Buzbee’s firm filed the original suit in December 2024, naming Jay-Z and Diddy and claiming they assaulted a teen at a VMAs after-party in 2000. She dropped it in February 2025. Jay-Z then sued Buzbee for extortion and defamation. A judge threw that out, and the appeals court backed the dismissal on Sept 9. Two weeks later came the recantation, which Jay-Z’s lawyers called “explosive new evidence.” The door is open again.