Days after her husband Jay-Z was charged with rape in a new lawsuit, Beyonce is making a significant donation to a criminal justice clinic.
The pop star’s BeyGood Foundation donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center’s Criminal Justice Clinic, the university stated in a press statement on Wednesday.
In the statement, UH Law Center dean Leonard Baynes stated, “At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGood envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings.”
According to the press release, the donation will help support a full-time faculty and director for the center that helps “underserved communities” close to the university.
Jay-Z is accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
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“With this contribution, The BeyGood Foundation and UHLC will work together to guide the next generation of criminal justice lawyers in Houston, Texas, and the country,” Baynes continued.
The “Cowboy Carter” singer’s estimated net worth at the time of the donation was $760 million, according to Forbes. The timing of the donation raises fresh issues as the Carter family prepares to confront legal challenges.
An Alabama woman, identified anonymously as Jane Doe, filed an amended lawsuit on Sunday, alleging that she was raped and drugged at an after-party after the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000 when she was 13 years old by billionaire music mogul Shawn Carter and troubled Bad Boy Records founder Sean “Diddy Combs.” In October, the lady filed a lawsuit against Combs for the alleged attack.
The accusations made against Jay-Z coincide with Combs’s recent legal troubles. Combs was arrested in September on federal counts of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Before his trial on May 5, the troubled hip-hop mogul has being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
After the lawsuit, Jay-Z stated in a statement that his “sole pain” is for his family. With the words, “My wife and I will have to sit down with our children, one of whom is at the age when her peers will undoubtedly see the press and ask questions about the nature of these charges, and explain the brutality and greed of humans,” the rapper angrily refuted the allegations.