Foxy Brown has raised eyebrows after sharing a series of cryptic social media posts that many fans have interpreted as her response to a rape allegation leveled against fellow rapper Jay-Z, her former mentor.
Brown reportedly posted the word “WOW” to her Instagram stories Monday, as well as an additional post featuring the word “WAIT” and a flushed face emoji, as seen in images shared by outlets like TMZ and The Daily Mail.
Another post in the series was, simply, a single cold-face emoji.
HuffPost reached out to a representative for Brown for comment and clarification on the posts, but did not immediately hear back.
The posts’ timing, however, prompted observers to view them as Brown’s response to a civil lawsuit that accuses Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, and fellow music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting an underage girl.
The plaintiff, listed as “Jane Doe,” alleges that Carter and Combs drugged her and raped her while an unnamed female celebrity watched at a New York house party after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. At the time, Doe would have been 13 years old, while Carter and Combs would have both been in their early 30s.
The lawsuit was initially filed in October and, at the time, did not mention Carter specifically. A version of the complaint filed Sunday and obtained by HuffPost had been amended to include his name.
Later that day, Carter denied the “heinous” allegations in a blistering statement issued through Roc Nation, his entertainment company. He also blasted Doe’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, as a “deplorable human” who has “neither honor nor dignity.” (Combs has similarly denied the allegations.)
On Tuesday, Carter’s legal team called for an expedited hearing and demanded that the woman who leveled the allegation against him and Combs be identified.
Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was widely considered a Carter protégé in the 1990s. She was featured on his 1996 debut album, “Reasonable Doubt.” The following year, she released the smash single “I’ll Be” with him.
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Rumors about the nature of her relationship with Carter have persisted across the decades, fueled ― at least in part ― by rapper Nas’ 2001 song “Ether,” which suggested that the two had had an affair.
According to Billboard, she appeared eager to dispel that notion in October, when she said a rumor that Carter had made her sign a nondisclosure agreement was “fake news.”
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.