The woman who sued Jay-Z for allegedly raping her when she was just 13 years old after the MTV Video Music Awards back in 2000 has been caught on an audio recording apparently admitting the alleged incident never happened.
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00:00Jay-Z had said all along that the private investigators who went to speak with this,
00:06the Jane Doe accuser, that the Jane Doe accuser told the investigators that Jay-Z had nothing
00:13to do with this, that she said it at least four times.
00:16And that her lawyer, Tony Busby, was pushing her into the narrative.
00:20Right.
00:21Well, it turns out the investigators actually recorded that conversation with the Jane Doe
00:25accuser, and today they released portions, I should say, small, small portions of the
00:33conversation, but the parts that clearly Jay-Z feel prove that he had nothing to do with
00:39this, as he has said all along.
00:41Jay-Z, you're saying he was definitely there?
00:44But he had no part in it?
00:45Or he was just...
00:46He was there.
00:47He was just there, but he didn't have anything to do with any sexual acts towards you.
00:52It was strictly...
00:53Yeah.
00:54He kind of pushed me towards going forward with him.
00:57With Jay-Z.
00:58Busby did?
00:59Yeah.
01:00Do you know why?
01:01No.
01:02Well, that's interesting, because on its face, that seems to prove their point, which is
01:09she says there was no sexual interaction, but Tony Busby pushed her.
01:15That's what...
01:16Right.
01:17And remember...
01:18That's the takeaway from that clip.
01:19And remember, this is all going to be presented as evidence in Jay-Z's lawsuit.
01:23The extortion case.
01:24The accuser has dropped her lawsuit against Jay-Z.
01:26This is Jay-Z now suing the accuser and Tony Busby, and his whole point of that lawsuit
01:33is that Tony Busby filed this lawsuit knowing that this accuser did not actually name Jay-Z
01:40as someone who assaulted her.
01:42But the plot thickens, though.
01:45It does thicken, but one thing I just noticed about what the accuser said, she said Jay-Z
01:51was there.
01:52And Jay-Z even refutes that.
01:54And there's been all this evidence that he was not at this event that she claimed he
02:00was at.
02:01So what does that...
02:02He was at other places.
02:03So what does that do to credibility if she is saying he was there when he wasn't?
02:07Because there were other things she said in the accusation that were just not true.
02:11That were proven false by photos and other people.
02:14That's right.
02:15Okay, so now the thickening of the plot.
02:17Because Tony Busby called the accuser himself.
02:21Remember, he is her attorney.
02:22And he called her to discuss the fact that Jay-Z was saying that she had named Busby
02:30as the person who pushed her to sue Jay-Z.
02:34This is his conversation with Jane Doe.
02:37They say that they have you on tape denying that Jay-Z assaulted you.
02:45Is that true?
02:46No.
02:47No.
02:49I don't...
02:50I've never said that.
02:52Okay.
02:53They also say that you told them, and they have it on tape, that I, Tony Busby, told
02:59you to...
03:00Like, came up with this plan and told you to say that Jay-Z assaulted you so you would
03:05get more money.
03:06No.
03:07You know, there's a lot to digest here.
03:09Her statements to the private investigators are what they are.
03:12She seems to refute that now.
03:13Her declarations in the case have been all over the place, too.
03:18She initially said Jay-Z was there, then later said he wasn't, then said, well, he was, but
03:22I dropped the case nevertheless.
03:24I think there's something interesting here, which is that Jay-Z's side said that there
03:28was an hour-long conversation between the private investigators and this woman.
03:32But they only released a minute of that.
03:34So we need to see the context for what she said.
03:38She's suggesting that she felt pressured by the private investigators to deny the claims
03:44against Jay-Z, and you could presumably get that from the context of the conversation,
03:48but we're not given that.
03:49They just cherry-picked a minute of it and gave it to us.
03:51We didn't know what to do with that exactly.
03:53If this goes to trial, which, by the way, I believe this one will go to trial because
03:57Jay-Z wants to get back at Tony Busby for filing this lawsuit, but they would have to
04:03submit the whole thing, right?
04:05Unedited.
04:06Oh, absolutely.
04:07Absolutely.
04:08Not necessarily even to the court, but in discovery, they have to release the whole
04:11thing.
04:12The thing that gives me pause on all of it is this woman has some kind of a mental illness.
04:20She was institutionalized shortly before she made the allegation.
04:23That's what the investigators said.
04:25They uncovered that.
04:26And so, you know, if these tapes are authentic, on the one hand, she's saying something squarely,
04:33and then on the other hand, she totally repudiates it.
04:36So which version is true?
04:39And is she delusional, or is she rooted in reality?
04:43And if she's rooted in reality, how is she telling two diametrically different stories?
04:49And so, is she believable on any side?
04:52Because ultimately, Jay-Z has to tip the scales to win this.
04:56But that doesn't ... No, Jay-Z doesn't have to tip the scales.
04:58Yes, he does.
04:59No, because she's ... Hold on.
05:00He's filed a lawsuit against Busby and the accuser.
05:02That's what I'm saying.
05:04Jay-Z has the burden of proof in the case, which means he has to tip the scales, because
05:09it's his lawsuit against her.
05:12And you have to ... It's his ... If the jury says, we have no idea because we don't know
05:16what this woman believes, and it's even Steven, the plaintiff loses.
05:21So Jay-Z has to tip the scales somehow.
05:23But I don't see how if this actually tips the scales for him.
05:27I understand that.
05:28That's the point I'm making.
05:29Hi, guys.
05:30Sheila Zolnar for Lauderdale, Florida.
05:31So I think you guys are both making good points.
05:34There's an issue here with, was she lying then, is she lying now?
05:37You have dueling audios where she says that she did retract, and then in the one audio
05:44where she says she didn't retract.
05:45So that's an issue, and I'm not so sure it goes to trial because of that reason.
05:50But also, no one's really talking about the fact that her dismissal was entered ... It
05:55was a voluntary dismissal with prejudice.
05:58I don't know any lawyer who would file a with prejudice dismissal unless there was a deal
06:03on the table, and I don't know if that deal was potentially ... You can't talk about the
06:07deal.
06:08Both sides said there was no deal.
06:09Are you in the legal biz?
06:10Because you seem to know a lot.
06:11Yes, I am.
06:12I've been doing criminal defense and victim advocacy for 18 years almost.
06:17I could tell.
06:18Yeah.
06:19I could tell.