Jay-Z & Legal Team Score Major Victory As Judge Makes Tony Buzbee Face $25M Defamation Claim

Jay-Z just won a major victory in his ongoing legal war with attorney Tony Buzbee, and the Texas lawyer’s problems keep multiplying.

A federal judge in Galveston ruled that Buzbee can’t escape a $25 million defamation lawsuit filed by Marcy Croft, the Mississippi attorney who represents Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company.

Judge Vincent Brown denied Buzbee’s motion to dismiss the case, meaning the prominent Houston lawyer now has to face the music in court.

Croft’s lawsuit centers on Buzbee’s social media posts, in which he accused her of illegally soliciting his former clients to file lawsuits against him.

The judge found that the court could “reasonably infer” Buzbee made defamatory statements about Croft, essentially saying the evidence suggests he crossed a line.

Croft’s legal team at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is seeking at least $25 million in damages for what they’re calling a coordinated campaign to falsely accuse her of criminal conduct.

This ruling represents a turning point in the two-year legal saga that started when Buzbee filed a lawsuit against Jay-Z on behalf of an anonymous woman claiming she was drugged and raped by the rapper and Sean “Diddy” Combs at a 2000 MTV Music Awards afterparty.

The accuser later recanted her entire story, admitting she never even met Jay-Z and that Buzbee had convinced her to name him as a defendant anyway.

According to Reuters, the judge’s ruling signals that Buzbee’s legal strategy has backfired spectacularly.

Jay-Z also filed his own defamation and malicious prosecution lawsuit against Buzbee in New York federal court, claiming the attorney pursued false allegations knowing they were baseless just to secure a settlement payout.

Jay-Z’s legal team has been working to expand their federal case against Buzbee with additional claims that could increase potential damages even further.

Buzbee declared victory in his appeal against Jay-Z’s extortion claims earlier this year, but that win now looks hollow compared to the mounting legal pressure he’s facing from Croft’s defamation case.