The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has now withdrawn her claim, saying she never met the rapper.
In a declaration filed in New York on September 24, the woman, previously identified as Jane Doe, called her allegations against the Grammy winner “false.”
She had accused Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, of assault in a 2024 civil lawsuit.
“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” she said in a statement to CNN, adding: “I sincerely and unconditionally apologize to Mr. Carter for the devastating harm I have caused to him, his family, and his reputation.”
Her current attorney, J. Blair Newman, said his client “maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault, but she was entirely mistaken in her allegations identifying Mr Carter, and those allegations were false.”
The lawsuit, which also named Sean “Diddy” Combs, was voluntarily dismissed in February 2025.
Jay-Z called the dismissal “a victory” at the time, saying the allegations had caused lasting pain for his family.
His former attorney, Tony Buzbee, defended his handling of the case in a statement to The New York Times, saying the woman had shared the same account with four lawyers before meeting him and that his team hired a former major-crimes detective to review her claims.
Jay-Z filed a countersuit in March 2025 against Jane Doe, Buzbee and another lawyer.
This week, his attorneys asked a judge to remove the woman from that case, which remains pending against the other defendants.
2026-09-26 11:42:00
