Jay-Z’s legal team has accused of Tony Buzbee of directing employees to edit Wikipedia pages as part of an effort to further harm the reputation of Jay and Roc Nation. This accusation, as first spotted by independent reporter Meghann Cuniff, comes by way of an amended complaint in which Buzbee is more broadly accused of pushing a Jane Doe to go public with what Jay’s lawyers have described as “a false, malicious lie.”
In the doc, filed on May 5, Buzbee and fellow defendants are said to have made efforts to undermine Jay and Roc Nation’s relationships, particularly in the sports and entertainment realms. Provided as an example of this alleged behavior in action, and new to this iteration of the complaint, are instances of Wikipedia editing, with Jay’s legal team alleging that these edits were carried out at Buzbee’s behest.
Here’s how it’s worded in the doc:
“For example, in violation of Wikipedia’s rules, Buzbee directed his employees to edit Wikipedia pages to enhance Buzbee’s image and damage Mr. Carter’s and Roc Nation’s reputations. Users with an IP address directly linked to the Buzbee Firm made over 100 positive edits to Buzbee’s Wikipedia page.”
Indeed, Wikipedia is not mentioned at all in a previous version of the complaint viewed by Complex. An alleged $20 million loss of income is mentioned in that version, as well as in the amended one, with Jay’s legal team arguing that Buzbee and Jane Doe’s decision to go forward with a “false lawsuit” and the sharing of “false public statements” caused this loss.
Additionally, Jay’s legal team says that the defendants’ initial filing and related statements led to Jay being denied a $55 million personal credit line. The complaint further alleges that Jay’s 50-percent owned consumer brand business was denied a $115 million loan.
Complex has reached out to Buzbee’s office for comment. This story may be updated.
The newly amended complaint gives a more detailed view of the scope of Jay’s allegations against Buzbee, whose name has been a frequent headlines presence in recent months.
Buzbee, previously referred to as a “fraud” by Jay, is also representing the accuser in Shannon Sharpe’s much-discussed sexual assault and battery case. In a video statement in April, Sharpe specifically mentioned Jay, arguing that Buzbee had “targeted” Jay in the previous suit.
“This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z,” Sharpe said at the time. “Tony Buzbee targets Black men and I believe he is going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and plays into every stereotype you could possibly imagine.”
From there, as seen here, Sharpe urged Buzbee to instead release the full video.
