Stephen A. Smith blasts JAY-Z's friends for not supporting him during civil suit

It’s said that when times are tough, people get to know who their real friends are. If that belief is true, JAY-Z might not have any friends. The rap legend was recently accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Diddy. The lawsuit was filed by Tony Buzbee, a 1-800 lawyer from Texas.

A voluntary dismissal was filed last week by Buzbee, and he retracted the complaint against the rap mogul. Soon after, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith blasted JAY's industry friends for not standing by his side.

On a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the TV host talked about how JAY was the only one speaking up for himself. Stephen A. said that when he first showed support for the rap mogul, he was berated. But now that the case has been dismissed, he wants to know why other people, who are apparently JAY's friends, didn’t have any faith in him.

“And to the people that have smiled in JAY-Z’s face, supposed to be his friends, where are y’all at?” said Stephen A.

Of course, a lawsuit of this nature becomes a sensitive subject to talk about, so people refrain from taking sides. Stephen A. seems to understand that, but he still said JAY's friends should've supported him.

He said, “What I said was, the man that I have known and I have been friends with for 25 years, there’s no way I believe he’s capable of something like that.” Stephen A. continued by saying that JAY’s friends could’ve shown support by simply standing by him and that wouldn’t require them to discredit the woman's allegation.

So far, The Blueprint rapper hasn't responded to Stephen A's comments, but he issued a statement after the civil suit was dismissed.

“This 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The system has failed," he wrote. "The court must protect victims, OF COURSE, while with the same ethical responsibility, the courts must protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence. May the truth prevail for all victims and those falsely accused equally.”

Diddy’s legal team also issued a statement, saying that the lawsuit was built on false evidence and had no legal merit.