STUNNING allegations that billionaire businessman and music mogul Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl in New York while other celebrities, including Sean “Diddy” Combs, watched the assault, shocked the world yesterday.
Jay-Z is the first celebrity to be dragged into the mess created by Diddy who faces a string of sexual assault cases, which have seen him being confined to prison while he awaits trial.
Both men deny the charges.
The woman claims the incident happened in 2000 at a party in New York after the MTV Video Music Awards.
She claims she was drugged and raped by the two superstars while another female celebrity, who hasn’t been named, was in the same room at the time.
Jay-Z has been named in a civil suit and has responded by dismissing the lawsuit as an attempt to blackmail him.
“My lawyer received a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter, from 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.
“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!”
Jay-Z is the biggest artist to be caught up in this storm.
But, he is not the only one who has been accused of raping teenage girls.
The script appears to be the same – the young women are wooed by the power of the star quality of these celebrities, they are drugged and then they are raped.
Here we look at other cases, including one here at home:
DJ RIBHE
Chillspot Records producer DJ Ribhe was last week granted US$100 bail by the High Court.
He is being accused of spiking his 14-yearp-old Form Two victim’s drink before raping her.
DJ Ribhe had spent almost a month in remand prison.
The High Court noted that the student gave two conflicting statements and did not allege any form or rape in her first recorded statement but later said her drink was spiked and she was raped in the second statement.
After the findings, the State consented to DJ Ribhe’s bail application, which was also upheld by Justice Dembure.
Justice Dembure ruled that the concession to bail by the State was proper and praised DJ Ribhe for providing an alternative address making him a favourable candidate.
The Chillspot Records music producer spent four weeks in remand prison since his arrest on November 6.
BRICKZ
The South African kwaito music star Brickz is serving a 15-year jail sentence at Leeuwkop Maximum Prison after being convicted of raping a 17-year-old relative in 2013.
He was jailed for raping his then 16-year-old relative at his rented house in Northgate, Johannesburg, in 2013 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Brickz is known for his hit song Tjovitjo.
He has now been seen graduating from a university after he completed his studies in prison and performing with a prison choir.
He had earlier been convicted of possession of drugs in 2007.
CLIFFORD DIMBA AKA GENERAL KANENE
The Zambian musician was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl in 2014.
He served one year of an 18-year prison sentence before he was pardoned in 2014.
He was appointed to be the ambassador who will spread the powerful message urging men to stop raping women.
JACOB HOGGARD
The Canadian musician was arrested in 2018 and charged with sexual assault and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was found not guilty of a third charge of sexual assault.
On August 16, this year, Ontario’s top court upheld the sexual assault conviction of Hoggard and confirmed his five-year prison sentence.
The rock star was found guilty of violently raping a young woman.
The teenage victim told the court that Hoggard raped her without a condom, choked her so hard she couldn’t breathe, and dragged her by her legs into the bathroom.
“I thought he might kill me,” she told the court.
After she asked for an apology in the following days, Hoggard blocked her number.
KAMAAL WILLIAMS
In May this year, three women accused London electronic jazz musician Kamaal Williams of sexual assault.
The women claimed the incidents happened in 2010, 2021 and 2023.
One of the women described him as “manipulative and pushy” and she told Resident Advisor that she repeatedly told Williams that she would not have sex with him before he sexually assaulted her in November 2010.
“My main motivation for contacting the police was to have the offence reported in case it could assist with any other investigations,” she told Resident Advisor.
CASSIUS POVEY
British musician Cassius Povey was accused of preying on vulnerable victims over a six-year period between 2010 and 2016.
He was arrested in July 2020,
A court heard Povey plied some of the teenagers with drugs and booze, befriended the schoolgirls, who were fans of his music, on Facebook before going on to rape or sexually abuse eight of them when they were only 14 or 15.
Povey also raped another woman, aged 19, in a park before he was caught when one of his victims spoke out on Facebook.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN
Reports have emerged that Florida prosecutors knew the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they cut a plea deal that has long been criticized as too lenient.