The prominent Texas lawyer who is taking on Sean Diddy Combs, and now Jay-Z, in sexual abuse lawsuits has a dark past of his own, DailyMail.com has learned.
Tony Buzbee, who is representing more than 100 people with allegations of sexual misconduct against Combs, has also recently found himself at war with Jay-Z after dragging the hip-hop mogul into an anonymous complaint accusing the two rappers of sexually assaulting a 13 year old… old girl.
But unearthed records — including a mugshot of blue eyes — show Buzbee once faced legal trouble of his own when he was arrested for DWI in 2016, the National Enquirer first reported.
DailyMail.com has confirmed that the handsome lawyer was arrested by Houston police on March 31 of that year and charged with driving under the influence. He was later released after posting $500 bail.
More recently, the high-profile personal injury attorney, who has handled previous civil lawsuits against other public figures and celebrities including NFL star Deshaun Watson and rapper Travis Scott, has become embroiled in a public legal feud that has exposed more of his skeletons. of the woodwork.
The case was dismissed by the Harris County District Attorney’s office after Buzbee completed a one-year educational program in just eight months.
In October, Buzbee announced his representation about 120 peoplemen and women, with allegations of sexual misconduct against Combs.
Among the anonymous lawsuits is one from a plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, who alleges that she was attacked when she was 13 at a post-awards party, which took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on September 7, 2000.
The lawsuit was initially filed in the Southern District of New York against Combs last October, with a refiling on Sunday identifying the rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
Tony Buzbee, who is representing more than 100 people with sexual misconduct allegations against Sean Diddy Combs, is seen in a bleary-eyed mugshot from his 2016 DWI charge in Texas
Buzbee recently found himself at war with Jay-Z — and Diddy, too — after dragging the Roc Nation founder into an anonymous complaint accusing the two rappers of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl
Jay-Z has vehemently denied wrongdoing and Combs, who is already behind bars on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, has also denied the rape allegation.
Jay-Z released a statement not only dismissing the allegation, but also destroying the reputation and integrity of the Houston personal injury lawyer, who is hailed as one of the most successful trial lawyers in Texas, and accusing him of a shakedown.
“My attorney received a blackmail attempt, a so-called demand letter, from an ‘attorney’ named Tony Buzbee,” Carter wrote, alleging that Buzbee filed frivolous lawsuits against the rich and famous but offered to drop them for a fee.
“What he calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” the rapper wrote.
“No sir, it had the opposite effect!” he added. “It made me want to expose you in a VERY public way for the fraud you’re committing. So no, I won’t give you a single red cent!!’
Combs, who is already behind bars on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, has also denied the rape allegation.
Both parties – Jay-Z plus his attorney Alex Spiro and Buzbee – have accused the other of using underhanded, coercive tactics.
Team Carter claims Buzbee added Jay-Z’s name to a lawsuit first filed in October in revenge after he refused to pay his accuser an “exorbitant” amount of money, prompting Carter to fire Buzbee in Los Angeles last month Angeles for racketeering.
Spiro also claims that Buzbee’s firm could pressure potential clients to make false accusations in lawsuits — an allegation the attorney denies.
Buzbee denies any attempted extortion and dismisses Team Carter’s claims as a “stupid sideshow” meant to distract from the rape allegation.
Buzbee shared a photo of himself in uniform on Instagram on Sunday and said he’s still the Marine platoon leader he once was
Buzbee claimed that people were harassing him and his family
Since leaving the Marines and starting his own law firm in 2000, Buzbee, 56, has amassed a vast fortune. He happily posts photos on social media ranging from lavish vacations, smoking cigars, decked out in expensive jewelry and on his private jet
Jay-Z, meanwhile, has intensified the abuse with a series of personal attacks on Buzbee, a former US Marine.
“You claim to be a Marine?!,” the rapper mocked last week. “Marines are known for their courage, you have neither courage nor dignity.”
Jay-Z has also called Buzbee a “deplorable human being” and, possibly even more hurtful to a successful lawyer who likes to sprint, “an ambulance chaser in a cheap suit.”
But Buzbee, who has made a fortune suing major corporations and celebrities, likes a fight.
Since leaving the Marines and starting his own law firm in 2000, 56-year-old Buzbee – who sports a large tattoo of a shark on his arm – has amassed a vast fortune.
And unlike other class action specialists, he is unaware of the enormous amounts of money his work earns him. He enjoys posting photos on social media, for example during luxurious vacations, smoking cigars, wearing expensive jewelry and in his private jet.
He also owns a yacht and a 7,000-acre ranch in Texas with his second wife Frances, who is 24 years his junior, and has homes in New York and Montana.
Rap moguls Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, left, and Jay-Z attended the 2015 NBA All-Star basketball game together in New York
Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – was named in a civil lawsuit accusing him of raping a 13-year-old along with Combs in 2000. He released a statement denying the claims.
His four children, now all grown, are from his first wife Zoë.
Buzbee reportedly gave Frances, the daughter of a wealthy Galveston family, a farm as a wedding gift and named it after her. She now runs it as an animal shelter.
In 2022, Buzbee put the five-bedroom Tudor-style Houston home he had shared with Zoe on the market for $27.5 million, a record for the city and just nine years after the couple bought it for a reported $ 14 million.
“People always say trial lawyers are such liberals, but I’m a big believer in capitalism,” he told the New York Times in 2010.
One of his first major victories came in 2001 when he represented offshore drilling workers who claimed their wages had been suppressed by their employers.
He won them a $75 million judgment against drilling company Transocean Ltd and the $18 million that came to his company in fees allowed Buzbee to amass a fantastic collection of sports cars.
Oil provided him with another lucrative windfall in 2005 when he sued BP on behalf of 179 customers over an explosion at a Texas refinery that killed 15 people and injured 170. The oil giant paid out more than $2 billion and Buzbee estimated he made almost $100 million from oil extraction. dispute.
He led the charge against the British oil company again five years later when BP’s Deepwater Horizon platform exploded in the Gulf in 2010, dumping 134 million gallons of crude oil into the sea.
Buzbee sued the oil giant on behalf of 10,000 individuals and companies who said they were affected by the spill. BP paid billions in settlements.
More recently, he has drawn more attention to high-profile celebrity cases. In 2021, Buzbee filed a $750 million lawsuit against rapper Travis Scott on behalf of at least 125 victims of that year’s Astroworld music festival in Houston, in which 10 people were killed and hundreds injured in an influx of crowds during Scott’s set .
Buzbee settled several subsequent lawsuits with Scott and Live Nation, which produced the show.
This year, he represented Los Angeles socialite Rebecca Grossman when she was accused of killing two brothers in a high-speed collision. He was heavily criticized for trying to ensnare Grossman’s lover, former MLB star Scott Erickson. Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.