JAY-Z has been hit with a legal setback as the judge overseeing his rape lawsuit has allowed the alleged victim to proceed anonymously.
The rap legend had argued that the anonymous woman’s identity should be made public if she wanted to continue with her lawsuit against him.
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However, Judge Angela Torres sided with the accuser in a ruling on Thursday (December 26), allowing her to remain anonymous “at this stage,” although her identity may be revealed at a later point.
Judge Torres was also heavily critical of JAY-Z’s attorney, Alex Spiro.
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In her ruling, she said Spiro submitted a “litany of letters and motions attempting to impugn the character of [the woman’s] lawyer, many of them expounding on the purported ‘urgency’ of this case.”
She added: “[Spiro’s] relentless filing of combative motions containing inflammatory language and ad hominem attacks is inappropriate, a waste of judicial resources, and a tactic unlikely to benefit his client. The court will not fast-track the judicial process merely because counsel demands it.”
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Torres continued by warning Spiro of “unacceptable” conduct.
Spiro had previously urged the court to dismiss JAY-Z from the lawsuit after the woman admitted to “inconsistencies” in her story, though she stands by her overall claims of rape.
Hov has vehemently denied the claims and attacked the woman’s lawyer Tony Buzbee, who he is currently suing for extortion and defamation.
“You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same. I’m not from your moral world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor,” the mogul said in a rare public statement.
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“We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”
Alex Spiro also hosted reporters at Roc Nation’s headquarters earlier this month to outline evidence that he says refutes the claims against JAY-Z.
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During his presentation, the attorney showed photos of Hov at a different event to the one his accuser said he was at and claimed that none of the properties owned by Diddy at the time matched that of the description in the lawsuit.
