Amid the rape allegation against him, hip hop mogul Jay-Z and his family put a united front by attending the premiere of Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” together. On Monday, Jay-Z, wife Beyonce, and their eldest daughter Blue Ivy Carter stepped out on the red carpet of the film’s Hollywood premiere in Dolby Theatre.
The rapper is there to support his wife and kid, who both have voice-acting roles in the film, the prequel to 2019 box office juggernaut The Lion King. His presence was reportedly a last-minute decision made after the allegations came to light.
On Sunday, Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs were named in a sexual assault lawsuit involving a minor. The rape allegedly took place at the MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000, back when the victim was 13 years old. The lawsuit was originally filed in October this year with Diddy as the sole defendant, only to be amended to include the “Empire State of Mind” rapper.
According to court documents, the alleged victim was assaulted while intoxicated at the party. When she went to a bedroom to recapture, Jay-Z and Diddy subsequently entered the room and perpetrated sequential acts of assault. An unnamed female celebrity was said to be present during the incident.
Jay-Z’s side swiftly denounced the allegations. Hours before his surprise appearance at the red carpet, the mogul took to X (formerly Twitter) calling the lawsuit the result of a “blackmail attempt” by a lawyer named Tony Buzbee.
“What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” he wrote via Roc Nation’s X account. “No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!”
The case is the latest development in the months-long sexual assault cases involving rap royalty Diddy, who’s known to be Jay-Z’s longtime friend. Jay-Z and Beyonce’s names have been dragged into the mud on the internet, but this is the first time that the rumor materialized into a real allegation.
The post Jay-Z Attends “Mufasa” Premiere with Beyonce and Blue Ivy Amid Rape Lawsuit first appeared on We Are So Sugary.
