The woman who publicly accused Jay-Z of sexual assault has withdrawn her allegations against the rapper.
In a declaration filed Thursday, September 24, in Manhattan federal court and obtained by Rolling Stone, the plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, said she had never met or spoken with Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. “Mr. Carter never raped me,” she wrote. “He never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever.”
Doe added that none of her claims against Carter were true and acknowledged the impact of the accusations. “I understand my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering and damage that can never be fully undone,” she stated.
In a civil lawsuit filed in December 2024, Doe accused Jay-Z, 56, and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her when she was 13. Both the Roc Nation founder and Combs, also 56, strongly denied the allegations. Combs remains incarcerated after being convicted in a separate case on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
An attorney for the woman who accused Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, previously said she never “demanded a penny” from the rapper. The lawyer also addressed Carter’s claims about the lawsuit and his decision to file a separate case under a pseudonym, arguing that his account omitted key details.
At the time, Jay-Z described the allegations as deeply painful in a statement shared on Instagram. “My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims,” he wrote, referring to Beyoncé and their three children. He said the situation represented “another loss of innocence” and accused those involved of showing “inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
Later that month, Jay-Z sought to have Doe’s lawsuit dismissed. He also filed a lawsuit against Doe and her attorney, Tony Buzbee, alleging abuse of process, malicious prosecution, civil conspiracy and defamation. Buzbee rejected the claims at the time, saying the defamation case had “no legal merit.”
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According to Rolling Stone, Doe’s latest declaration also notified the court that Jay-Z had voluntarily removed her from his ongoing litigation. She said no payment had been promised in exchange for her new statement.
Jay-Z previously filed another motion seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, which accused him of raping a 13-year-old girl more than two decades ago. The motion also asked the court to sanction the accuser’s lawyer after United States District Judge Analisa Torres authorized him to proceed.
Doe’s new attorney, James Blair Newman Jr., said his client still believes she experienced sexual assault but was mistaken when identifying Carter as the person responsible. “Those allegations were false,” he told the outlet. “Mr. Carter did not rape her, sexually assault her, engage in any inappropriate conduct toward her, and she has never met him. She sincerely and unconditionally apologizes to Mr. Carter and his family.”
Jay-Z has not publicly addressed Doe’s latest filing. He has previously spoken openly about the emotional toll of the legal dispute.
“That whole [lawsuit thing], that s*** took a lot out of me. I was angry,” he told GQ in a March profile. “I haven’t been that angry in a long time, uncontrollable anger. You don’t put that on someone — that’s a thing that you better be super sure.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).