Sean “Diddy” Combs is still facing life behind bars if found guilty in his sex trafficking trial later this year, but today the Bad Boy Records founder and Jay-Z saw one less defendant in the accusations that the duo and an unnamed female celebrity repeatedly raped a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
Looking over a February 7 filing by the now middle-aged Jane Doe’s lawyers and Tony Buzbee’s firm to voluntary dismiss Bad Boy Records as a defendant in the sordid matter, Judge Analisa Torres could have pulled the plug on the whole case on Monday. Instead the Barack Obama-appointed NYC-based U.S. District Judge signed the filing from last week, with an item in the docket that said: “Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff(s) and or their counsel(s), hereby give notice that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed with prejudice against Defendant(s) Bad Boy Records LLC (“BBRLLC”). The same is acknowledged and agreed by BBRLLC, by and through its undersigned counsel.”
Diddy and Jay-Z a.k.a. Shawn Carter remain defendants, as does CE OPCO LLC a.k.a. Combs Global, Bad Boy Entertainment Holdings, Inc and several Bad Boy named entities. While not in the federally prosecuted criminal case, Bad Boy Records is still a defendant in the plethora of civil cases against Combs, many of which see Buzbee as the chief lawyer.
RELATED: Jay-Z Now Hopes To Get Alleged Rape Of 13-Year-Old Tossed Out Based On Calendar & Geography
Neither representatives for Combs, Carter or Jane Doe responded to request from Deadline on Monday’s developments. However, it seems that the exit of Bad Boy Records from the case is due to replication of its status because of Combs’ corporate structure of overlapping companies and divisions, I’m told.
The rape of the then-teen Jane Doe is alleged to have occurred on the night of September 7, 2000 during one of Diddy’s drug-fueled parties after that year’s MTV VMAs. A very graphic October 20-filed lawsuit from plaintiff’s lawyer Buzbee originally only named Combs, but made distinct reference to accomplices of a male “Celebrity A” and a female “Celebrity B.”
Jay-Z was named as the “Celebrity A” in a December 8 refiling by Buzbee following a separate suit from a Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan-represented anonymous “celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles” (later revealed to be Jay-Z) that went after the Texas lawyer for extortion.
Jay-Z has denied anything to do with the “heinous” rape, as the superstar called it late last year. On a parallel track, Spiro has constantly torn at inconsistencies and more in Jane Doe’s version of events from a mid-December NBC interview she gave – an interview where she admitted to “mistakes.” Simultaneously, the defense has attempted unsuccessfully to have the plaintiff’s real name revealed, and, with claims of a “lack of diligence,” see Buzbee punished.
Formed in 1993 at the near height of Combs’ music mogul power, Bad Boy Records was estimated to be worth over $100 million during the Clinton Era. In the ups and downs of the music industry and Diddy’s fortunes over the decades since, Bad Boy Records has taken many forms at several different conglomerates. Currently, the label is part of the Sony Music Entertainment empire.
The move by Judge Torres was strongly hinted at this AM by an entry on the docket that read: “Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, was reviewed and referred to Judge Analisa Torres for approval for the following reason(s): the plaintiff(s) filed their voluntary dismissal and it did not dismiss all of the parties or the action in its entirety.” It would have been a shocker if the Judge had dismissed the whole matter on the technicality, but not necessarily beyond the pale — especially in a case where the two sides have fought over every legal inch both in and outside the courts in a manner common to both Buzbee and Alec Baldwin and Elon Musk attorney Spiro.
Incremental but not insignificant, Judge Torres’ decision comes less than a week after Jay-Z and his lead lawyer Alex Spiro put the gloves down in their grinding fight with Jane Doe’s top attorney Buzbee to have financial sanctions and more put on the Houston-based member of the bar. At the same time, along with being among the VIP attendees at Super Bowl LIX on February 9, the Roc Nation founder and his legal pit-bull tripled down on February 5 on their desire to see the case overall dismissed. Having seen previous efforts to get the chilling matter tossed out, Spiro entered another formal motion of dismissal last week.
Already fighting dozens and dozens of civil suits over sexual assault, abuse and more, including claims that Combs raped a 10-year-old boy, Diddy has been incarcerated in Brooklyn’s harsh Metropolitan Detention Center since his September 16 arrest. Failing on several occasions to get released on a $50 million bail, Combs is set to go to trial on racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges starting May 5.
Of the civil cases and a claimed 150 clients, it should be noted Buzbee has promised more are coming, with or without Bad Boys Records as a defendant.
