How to talk about the Jay-Z allegations in a responsible way

This 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." 

Today on Commotion, Elamin Abdelmahmoud speaks with journalist Kathleen Newman-Bremang and activist and artist Rania El Mugammar to react to the allegations, the online response, and how to hold space for those who come forth with these types of sexual assault claims. 

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Rania, what is your reaction to these allegations against Jay-Z?

Rania: I was not surprised. I was gutted and disheartened that the survivor is 13 years old at the time of the assault, that's always difficult to hold and make space for. But I expected that a lot more people would be named in the aftermath of the Diddy charges. I think music, and the entertainment industry more broadly, is facing the same reckoning that everywhere else is around sexual violence and assault. And I will say that we tend to focus exclusively on hip-hop around normalizing sexual violence or sexual exploitation of women. But this is a music-wide problem, whether it's The Knack's My Sharona, which is a song written about a minor or Don't Stand So Close to Me by The Police, whatever it might be. The content and the culture surrounding music is facing a reckoning that I think is long overdue. And it makes sense that more survivors are coming forward in this moment. 

Elamin: Jay-Z's statement stands out to me in a lot of different ways. It is not the usual kind of statement you get, which is to say heavily lawyered, heavily distanced, trying to say, "I am not involved in this thing." Jay-Z takes a different posture. It's on-the-offense kind of posture, saying he's going to come after this lawyer. He names the lawyer who has filed the lawsuit. What did you make of his response, Kathleen? 

Kathleen: It felt a bit desperate. And first of all, it came very quickly, which is clear because it reads pretty rushed. And it went up on the official Roc Nation account, which was also weird because this is a personal allegation against Jay-Z, not his company or the employees of Roc Nation. And the tone is a bit hysteric, it includes a lot of exclamation points. It's very hostile towards the lawyer, Tony Buzbee, who's representing the accused. 

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. 

Elamin: What is the responsibility of media folks, of influencers, of people who want to have meaningful conversations about this? What is the responsibility to navigate this as the story continues to evolve and we're in this weird space where we know enough to know we can't say nothing at all, but we don't know enough to have a specific landing point? What's our responsibility? How do we do this? 

Kathleen: I think people need to be responsible with their platforms. I think that means not automatically condemning someone, but also reading the victim's statement in full and centering survivors. And looking to history, specifically the history of abuse that the music industry has enabled and understanding that this is bigger than you and your TikTok views and your Spotify playlists and being able to listen to an artist you like without guilt. 

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. So it's about being responsible and thoughtful and leading with empathy and care and relying on sources you trust.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Ty Callender.