Jay-Z was publicly named in a sexual assault lawsuit on Dec. 8. Legal experts explain the behind-the-scenes moves that led to the bombshell filing.

Z have denied the lawsuit's allegations. In a then-burgeoning hip-hop scene, the fellow New York natives rose to prominence in the East Coast rap world through the mid-1990s. Their music tapped into hard knocks and entrepreneurial ambitions – but both wanted more than album sales and positive reviews.

Jay-Z has filed his first formal response to a lawsuit alleging he and Sean "Diddy" Combs raped a 13-year-old girl at a VMA afterparty in 2000.

Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was accused in a lawsuit Sunday of raping a teenage girl after an awards show more than two decades ago along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul facing federal sex trafficking charges and a wave of lawsuits alleging sexual assault.

An attorney for Jay-Z called the lawsuit by the woman, who said she was raped by the rapper and Sean "Diddy" Combs at a party when she was 13, a "shakedown."