Judge Dismisses JAY-Z’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Tony Buzbee

JAY-Z was not mincing his words when he said he wanted to show how different he is to Tony Buzbee. He plans to appeal a judge’s decision to dismiss his lawsuit against the lawyer.

As spotted on Complex on Tuesday, July 1, Los Angeles County Judge Mark Epstein dismissed JAY-Z’s extortion and defamation lawsuit against Tony Buzbee. In his ruling, Epstein revealed that he wasn’t really satisfied with his decision.

“This court has tried to balance these competing values, although the court is not wholly satisfied that this is the outcome that best serves the legislative and constitutional doctrines,” the 65-page document read. The magistrate went on to detail that there is no evidence that the controversial attorney was ever trying to squeeze JAY-Z for a payment. “There is no demand for a particular sum of money, although that is not enough to protect the Letters. The real problem for Carter is that the mediation request is about the sexual abuse allegations underpinning a potential civil case, and nothing else,” he added. “There are no extraneous allegations as to publicizing other unrelated and unsavory things related to Carter and there are no promises to refrain from going to law enforcement if Carter agrees to mediate and does settle.”

As expected, Tony Buzbee was pleased wth the decision and used the opportunity to take a shot at JAY-Z and his team. “The case was merciless, and as I predicted, it was thrown out,” Buzbee said in an exclusive statement to Houston Public Media. “We intend to seek attorney fees.” Carter’s lawyer Alex Spiro expressed his displeasure in statement to Rolling Stone Magazine. “We are surprised and disappointed by this ruling which turns on the misapplication of California law on the admissibility of the investigators’ statements,” he stated. “Notably, the Judge expressly states that his decision would have ‘change[d] dramatically’ if he had admitted the statements into evidence as they would have shown ‘not only that Carter had nothing to do with any sexual assault on Doe, but that Buzbee knew it…’ and thus ‘the court would come out the other way on this motion.’ 

The “Brooklyn High” rapper claimed that the attorney carelessly and maliciously filed a lawsuit against him claiming he raped a 13-year-old girl back in 2000. In response JAY-Z’s lawyer filed a countersuit stating that Hov lost millions in potential revenue due to damning allegations.

At this time it is not clear where JAY-Z’s counsel is at with the appeal process.