Jay-Z Wants a Piece of Attorney Tony Buzbee’s Flesh, Asks Court to Reconsider Extortion Ruling

By Hip Hop Enquirer Staff | September 28, 2026

Jay-Z is taking his legal fight with attorney Tony Buzbee back to a California appeals court. After a woman who once accused the rapper of sexual assault formally withdrew her allegations, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter asked the court to reconsider its ruling against his extortion and defamation claims involving Buzbee and his law firm. He has not filed a new extortion lawsuit; he is seeking another look at an existing case.

The dispute began with a civil lawsuit in which the woman, identified as Jane Doe, accused Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs of assaulting her when she was 13. Both men denied the allegation. Doe dismissed that lawsuit in February 2025. In a sworn declaration submitted last week, she went further, stating that she had never met Carter and that her claims against him were false.

Carter’s lawyers say the declaration changes the picture before the California court. Earlier this month, the appeals court upheld a decision striking his claims against Buzbee under California’s law protecting against lawsuits targeting protected speech. The court found that the evidence then before it did not show Buzbee knew the accusation was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth. Carter now wants the judges to revisit that decision in light of Doe’s new statement.

Buzbee disputes Carter’s allegations of wrongdoing. Doe’s recantation establishes what she now says under oath; it does not, by itself, establish what Buzbee knew when he represented her. Whether the California court will grant rehearing remains an open question. A separate lawsuit Carter brought against Buzbee and others is also proceeding in New York.

For Carter, the filing is another attempt to hold the attorneys behind the withdrawn accusation accountable. For the court, the immediate question is narrower: whether Doe’s reversal warrants reconsidering its ruling. Tony Buzbee has yet to respond to this latest development but when he does, we will update our viewers.