Diddy Trial

Jay-Z's legal team is going after Tony Buzbee for alleged misconduct ... claiming he tried to extort the rapper and, when he couldn't, he then proceeded to sue him.

The star's lawyer Alex Spiro filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss a "Jane Doe" lawsuit against Jay-Z and Diddy ... specifically calling out Buzbee for bringing the legal action.

According to Spiro's motion, Buzbee initially described Jay-Z as a prominent person in the lawsuit without naming him -- Spiro's accusing the Texas-based attorney of demanding money to keep Jay's identity under wraps.

Jay-Z's war with Tony Buzbee is kicking up another notch ... the controversial attorney just filed a lawsuit, claiming Jay's company, Roc Nation, and its high-powered attorneys are conspiring to turn Buzbee's clients against him.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, one of Buzbee's clients -- a guy named Gerardo Garcia -- says 2 investigators approached him at his home, claiming to work for the State of Texas, and told him they were putting together a lawsuit against Buzbee that could "get [Garcia] a lot of money."

Garcia says he recorded the encounter with the individuals, and Buzbee posted a pic last week from from the video.

It allegedly shows one of them disclosing they work for an attorney named Marcy Croft, who's described herself online as part of TeamRoc -- the philanthropic arm of Roc Nation -- and Buzbee claims she also works with Alex Spiro, Jay's longtime attorney.

Thomas Giuffra, the lawyer for three anonymous men who have accused Diddy of sodomizing them, says Diddy's a lot like another fallen Hollywood power player -- Harvey Weinstein.

The attorney stopped by CNN Wednesday to talk about the lawsuit he recently filed on behalf of his three clients ... and, he says the similar threads in their stories caught his attention early on.

Giuffra says abusers -- like Diddy's accused of being -- all have patterns ... adding former Hollywood producer Weinstein had them as well.

Diddy's alleged mule, Brendan Paul, is off the hook in his felony drug case in Florida ... because all the charges have been dropped, TMZ has confirmed.

State prosecutors officially dismissed the charges against Paul Tuesday because he completed a pretrial diversion program ... according to his attorney, Brian Bieber.

Meanwhile, federal sources tell TMZ ... Paul did NOT strike a deal with federal prosecutors in the Diddy case.

One word describes how Jay-Z feels about the rape allegations against him ... "upset."

In fact, the music mogul's so mad, his attorney, Alex Spiro, gave a fiery speech Monday invoking that word multiple times in regards to the new lawsuit against his famous client.

Spiro told a roundtable of reporters at Roc Nation headquarters in NYC that Jay feels the suit makes a mockery of the justice system because of what he calls baseless claims made by his accuser.

Tony Buzbee is denying claims he's working hand in hand with Jaguar Wright as part of his rape lawsuit against Jay-Z.

Here's the deal ... Jaguar posted a video on social media this week, claiming she was contacted by Buzbee's law firm, which is representing a "Jane Doe" who is suing Jay, as well as more than 100 alleged Diddy sexual assault victims.

In video posted on X, Jaguar filmed herself talking with a woman who seemingly worked for a law firm ... which Jaguar claimed was Buzbee's.

Jay-Z and Diddy's rape accuser is speaking out for the first time about the allegations -- but "some mistakes" in her story are prompting Jay-Z to ask a judge to toss the whole case ... TMZ has learned.

The woman, who filed as a Jane Doe and says she was 13 at the time of the alleged rape, spoke to NBC News Friday, going over what she claims happened at the 2000 MTV VMAs after-party -- including a limo ride to Diddy's house, and a drink that made her woozy before the alleged sexual assault.

While she said the "catastrophic event" ruined her life, she also copped to multiple inconsistencies in her allegations. For instance, she spoke to Benji Madden at the after-party, but Benji says he wasn't even in NYC at the time. She also claimed her father picked her up from the party, but he doesn't remember that.

The Fresh Prince is telling fans he's got no Diddy dirty laundry ... 'cause Will Smith says he's never been tight with the disgraced rap mogul.

The actor/rapper took the stage at The Observatory North Park in San Diego Thursday ... when during a break in the show, Smith addressed the sold-out crowd about all the memes trolls have made of him and Diddy.

Watch the clip ... Smith says it's hard to tell what's true or not in today's age -- and the memes online are clearly causing a ton of confusion.

Diddy's facing multiple new sexual assault lawsuits ... with three unnamed accusers claiming the mogul drugged and raped them -- and, these individuals are alleging the assaults happened much more recently than other claims he's facing.

TMZ has obtained multiple new lawsuits, all filed by the same New York-based attorney (not Tony Buzbee) ... with the unnamed plaintiffs all claiming Diddy drugged and then sodomized them -- with the earliest claim dating back to 2019.

While there's nuance to each claim, they all share similarities ... with the accusers saying they went to party with Puffy and his crew -- two claiming they went to hotels with him and one claiming they were raped at his residence in the Hamptons.

The NFL is standing firm in Jay-Z's corner after he was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in a new lawsuit ... with commissioner Roger Goodell telling reporters the rap mogul's status with the league remains unchanged.

Commish relayed the non-update during a press conference for the upcoming slate of Christmas Day games on Netflix ... and in his response, it's clear the Shield believes Hov's adamant denial of the allegations.

"We are aware of the allegations and Jay-Z's really strong response to that," Goodell said minutes ago.

One of the men suing Diddy is telling his story on camera for the first time ... describing the alleged rape he claims went down after a white party in the Hamptons.

The man is suing anonymously -- and just filed an amendment to the suit he first filed back in October ... claiming he was hired to work security at one of Diddy's parties in 2007, and at some point, Diddy offered him a drink which he alleges was laced with something.

Concealing his face and voice, the alleged victim told CNN, "The first drink started to have some effect on me, and I just thought, 'Wow, these are really strong drinks. It wasn't until the 2nd drink, and it was already too late, that I realized there was something wrong with the drinks."

Jay-Z's staying on the offensive against attorney Tony Buzbee ... informing a judge there's reason to believe Buzbee is pressuring potential clients to make false allegations in lawsuits.

Jay's attorney Alex Spiro says a woman reached out to his firm, Quinn Emanuel, on Monday night to share her experience with Buzbee's firm. According to a declaration filed Tuesday morning in federal court, one of Spiro's associates says she got a phone call from the woman, who said she'd previously contacted Buzbee's firm seeking representation over allegations of sex trafficking and abuse.

The woman said she reached out to Buzbee because she'd seen his solicitation for anyone who may have been a potential victim of Sean "Diddy" Combs -- but she'd made it clear her allegations were not related to Diddy.

Jay-Z's rape accuser might take the music mogul's advice and file a criminal complaint against him after slapping him with a civil suit alleging sexual assault, according to her attorney Tony Buzbee.

In a statement emailed to TMZ, Buzbee said he's not ruling out filing rape charges against Jay with New York authorities, saying ... "What happens next is up to my client. It’s her case and what she decides to do you will find out in due course."

Per New York state law, there is no statute of limitations for alleged victims to file a first-degree felony rape complaint.

There was already a "Countdown" to Beyoncé and Blue Ivy's appearance at the "Mufasa" premiere before Jay-Z was hit with a sexual assault allegation ... so, all eyes were on the red carpet to see if the mother-daughter duo actually showed up Monday night. Not only did they show up but Jay-Z accompanied them.

All three family members were in attendance at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where "The Lion King" prequel film had its highly anticipated premiere.

Their appearance spoke volumes in the wake of the troubling allegations against the Carter patriarch.

12/10/24 2:55 PM PT -- Tony Buzbee has now specifically addressed Matthew Thompson's allegations, telling TMZ ... "Mr. Thompson was solicited and paid to bring this case. It has no merit. The lawyers who brought it would have seen that had they bothered to do any due diligence at all. In his suit, Thompson claims our firm failed to forward to him payments made by his former employer. That’s patently untrue. His employer refused to make any such payments to him. He claims the fees weren’t explained. That’s also patently false. He signed a contract that clearly sets forth the fees.  He claims that the expenses weren’t explained. Again, patently false. He signed an affidavit at settlement agreeing to the expenses and acknowledging they were explained. Finally, Thompson’s claim that the firm took more than the contractual fee is patently false. He signed an affidavit stating that all was done correctly. The bottom line is that the investigators who manufactured this case and the lawyers who filed it were reckless and foolish. The case is junk and the effort behind it will be exposed."

12/10/24 1:40 PM PT -- Tony Buzbee tells TMZ … "Jay-Z’s investigators contacted more than forty former clients they apparently found on Venmo. They each were offered $1000 to sue me. We have the investigators caught on tape admitting they gave this 'client' money to bring this case. We will be seeking state bar action against the lawyers involved because such conduct is a state law crime and also violates the ethical rules that govern lawyers. The case itself is frivolous and will be dismissed as such."

Jay-Z isn't the only one targeting attorney Tony Buzbee in court -- a former client claims Buzbee acted more like his loan shark than his lawyer in a personal injury case.

Tina Knowles is making it clear she hasn't weighed in on son-in-law Jay-Z's current legal woes ... posting a pointed response after her social media activity was called out.

Beyoncé's mother posted to Instagram on Monday after reports began pointing out that the Knowles matriarch "liked" a post detailing the rape allegation made against Jay-Z and Diddy in a recent lawsuit.

However, as Tina claimed in a note shared to Instagram, she was not the person who liked the news post ... as she said she was "hacked" prior to the social media activity.