Woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her at 13 says allegation untrue
A woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe, who accused U.S. rapper Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13-year-old, has officially withdrawn her claims, stating that she has never met the rap star.
The woman initially filed a lawsuit against the rapper in 2024, alleging that the rapper and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs drugged and raped her at an after-party after the 2000 MTV awards.
She later dropped the lawsuit against Jay-Z in February 2025, after the rap mogul denied the claims, and he subsequently filed a countersuit against her and her previous lawyers for using the lawsuit to secure a secret financial settlement.
In an 11-page declaration filed in Manhattan federal court and obtained by Rolling Stone, she wrote, “Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr Carter. Mr Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever.”
She said the claims were untrue and apologised for the damage she caused the rapper following the false accusations, adding that memories of the assault were triggered after she saw an advertisement calling for victims of Mr Combs to come forward.
The woman noted that she was not promised or received any compensation for the declaration.
Her current lawyer, James Blair Newman Jr, maintained his client’s position of being a victim of sexual assault, adding that she made a mistake in her accusations by identifying the rapper.
However, the rapper said he would no longer sue the woman, with the lawsuit against her being dropped, but he would continue his legal action against her previous lawyers for failing to determine that the allegations were false due to the lack of credible evidence to support the claims.
One of her former attorneys, Tony Buzbee, and his co-counsel, asked the court earlier this month to dismiss the lawsuit from the rapper, describing it as “a malicious prosecution,” saying, “If for some reason now she is claiming she lied to us and the court, that’s new information.”
In March, Jay-Z publicly spoke about the personal consequences for himself and his family.
He also said that he refused to settle the case privately because he wanted to defend the claims rather than pay a settlement.
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