Sean 'Diddy' Combs (L) and Jay-Z (R) are accused of sexual assault of a minor
Cultural critics Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Rania El Mugammar share their reactions and best practices to talk about sexual assault allegations in the mediaThis past weekend, news broke of a lawsuit accusing Jay-Z of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean "Diddy" Combs at a party after the MTV Music Awards in 2000. Jay-Z quickly released a statement on Instagram calling the allegations "heinous" and "idiotic.
I think you could argue that, of course, Jay-Z is angry and emotional and that comes through in this statement. But I doubt a lawyer or a publicist would have signed off on this statement. He doesn't acknowledge the victim at all. He only vaguely refers to "true victims in this world." And while it is very clearly a denial, he doesn't explicitly say the words, "I did not do this.
He also brings up his family. For me, when I was reading, it felt unfair to them. He talks about how he and his wife, Beyoncé, will have to sit their kids down and tell them about this and the heartbreak of that. Again, I think this is an understandable sentiment, on one hand; but on the other, I think it just invites people to bring his family into this and talk about him and these allegations when his daughter, Blue Ivy, walks the red carpet for her new movie, and that is unfair to her.
I think the statement was ill-advised. And if everything he is saying is true, that this lawyer is shady and taking advantage of the Jane Doe and of other victims, I don't know if this statement unequivocally convinces anyone of that or if this helps his case in the court of public opinion.
I think it's important to remember that people who come forward are putting themselves at great risk. Even if this lawyer character is shady, that doesn't necessarily negate the claims. It could, but it doesn't necessarily by default. And this Diddy case is exposing the music industry and the system of abuse. And I think on social media, we know this is not the last conversation we're going to have about this or the last celebrity who will be implicated.
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Jay-Z Accused Of Raping 13-Year-Old Girl With Diddy As Unnamed Female Celeb WatchedTaiyler S. Mitchell is a reporter on the breaking news desk at HuffPost with beats that include culture, social issues, and criminal justice. An alumna of Dillard University, Taiyler has bylines at Business Insider and has been featured by NBCLX and SFGate.
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