"There is no closer association between any of them"— Jay-Z's lawyer denies rapper being close friends with Diddy, calls it 'fiction'

On December 16, Jay-Z’s attorney, Alex Spiro, attended a press roundtable at Roc Nation’s New York City office and said his client’s case was unrelated to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ongoing federal case.

“Mr. Carter has nothing to do with Mr. Combs’ case or Mr. Combs. They knew each other professionally for a number of years. Just like in all professions, people know each other. At the music awards, they support each other. If you go to the NBA All-Star game, they support each other,” Spiro said.

Alex Spiro further urged other celebrities who are being implicated in Diddy's case to "stand in the truth."

“That’s just how professions work. There is no closer association between any of them. That’s also a matter of fiction. That's all that there is... I would urge any other celebrity that’s being shaken down right now to do the same thing [as Jay-Z] and to stand in the truth.”

Trigger warning: This article mentions s*xual assault. Discretion is advised.

Jay-Z was named Diddy’s co-defendant in a civil suit on December 8, as per several outlets, including NBC News. The suit accused them of drugging and r*ping a 13-year-old girl at an MTV VMAs afterparty hosted by the latter in New York City in 2000. An unnamed female celebrity reportedly witnessed the alleged incident. Jay-Z has since refuted the allegations.

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Exploring Jay-Z’s lawyer’s statement about Diddy and more

During Monday’s roundtable, Alex Spiro claimed that Jay-Z wasn’t aware of anything related to the “charges or allegations” against Diddy, nor had he anything to do with “that case.” He added, “There’s nothing more to say.”

Spiro also showed an online presentation that detailed the alleged inaccuracies in the plaintiff’s complaint.

“It’s obvious to everybody that Mr. Carter did not do this. Obviously, Jay-Z did not r*pe a child. But what I wanna do today is just sort of walk you through some of this so that you can see the truth and you can see what happened yourselves,” Alex shared.

While reiterating his previous claims to NBC News that he would “continue to vet” the allegations, the attorney said:

“You can see here now that this is starting to unravel and the truth is coming out… the lawsuit attacks a man with the integrity of Mr. Carter.”

Besides denying the accusations, Jay-Z has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit against him, citing “lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to the plaintiff’s lack of standing.”

During the roundtable, Tony Buzbee, the plaintiff Jane Doe’s lawyer, slammed Alex Spiro’s remarks that the allegations in the civil suit were “baseless.”

“This client was signed up and referred to our firm by another law firm. That law firm drafted the initial complaint. However, four individuals at our firm have also interviewed the client and checked details after accepting the referral,” Buzbee told reporters.

“A background check was run on the client. We also engaged a seasoned investigator to vet some details she disclosed to us. Those results were consistent with what the client had told us.”

The Texas attorney added that his firm initially sent a “letter” to Jay-Z’s legal counsel and “offered to sit down to discuss the claims confidentially.” However, he claimed that instead of “accepting” the offer, Alex Spiro and team filed a counter lawsuit against Buzbee, accusing him “personally of extortion.”

Buzbee called the case “frivolous,” citing neither he nor his client demanded “money.” He mentioned that Jay-Z’s lawyer was a “bully.”

“At least three lawyers from our firm interviewed the client prior to filing the amended complaint naming Mr. Carter. The client also has signed two separate affidavits. Our client remains adamant about her claim… Our conduct has been beyond reproach and will continue to be. We will be raising some of the conduct of our adversaries in due course that is extremely troubling,” Tony concluded.

On December 13, Tony Buzbee told NBC News that his team had not only corroborated Jane Doe’s claims but also agreed to “submit to a polygraph.” He is also suing Spiro's firm, Quinn Emmanuel, accusing them of hiring a private intelligence company, Lex Intelligence, to reportedly dig up dirt on him.

Alex Spiro has since denied the accusations and said that all "factual disputes" will be resolved in court, adding his client has been "upset" with the whole thing.

During an interview with NBC News, uploaded on December 17, Jay-Z's attorney also said there is "no friendship or longtime bond" between his client and Diddy.

“Just because they knew each other, know each other, that doesn’t mean anything,” he added.

Alex Spiro also claimed that the Roc Nation boss was "completely innocent." He said he expected him to soon be "fully cleared" of the accusations and that the case should be "dismissed."

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The lawsuit against Jay-Z was originally filed in October 2024 against Diddy in the Southern District of New York under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act and seeks unspecified damages.

Diddy has also denied the accusations from behind bars via his legal team. He is currently being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center on the charges of s*x trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution, among other alleged crimes.

So far, he has been denied bail multiple times despite pleading not guilty to all the charges. He was arrested on September 16 and is awaiting trial in May 2025. He has several other lawsuits pending against him.