The New York Times contacted me to ask for my response to rapper Jay-Z’s allegation that I tried to extort and blackmail him. My response is pretty straightforward. No one has made any threats. Jay Z’s assertions are bogus and laughable. Instead, our firm sent a standard demand letter seeking a mediation on behalf of a woman who alleges Jay-Z sexually assaulted her as a minor. The letter was vetted and approved by our client, whose preference was to attempt resolution short of filing a lawsuit. This approach is common in these types of cases. What you are seeing played out now is a coordinated and desperate effort to focus the public’s attention on me personally to avoid attention on the allegations being made by my clients. This effort has included harassing my family and colleagues and even offering former clients money to sue me—which is illegal.
When an alleged perpetrator behaves in this manner, wildly asserting that a basic demand letter is “extortion,” and aggressively using the media to attack the opposing lawyer while at the same time ignoring the allegations being made by the alleged victim, it reminds me of a famous line from Shakespeare: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” We intend to address all of these issues with the court in due course. Let me be clear: We will not be bullied or intimidated by these shenanigans. And our clients won’t be silenced.
