The woman who accused Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, of raping her when she was 13 has withdrawn her allegation, saying it was false and that she has never met the rapper, according to a Manhattan court declaration obtained by Global News.
“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,” the declaration states.
“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” the statement continued.
In a 2024 lawsuit, the unnamed woman alleged that the rapper had drugged and sexually assaulted her with Sean Combs, known as P. Diddy. She had alleged that the claims dated back to 2000 at a party after an MTV awards show.
Jay-Z has repeatedly denied the claims and said they were made against him as part of an extortion attempt. Combs, who is currently serving a 50-month jail sentence on transport for prostitution charges, also denied the allegations.
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The woman dropped the lawsuit in February 2025.
Jay-Z, who tried to extract himself before it was dropped and is suing the woman’s lawyers in a separate filing for malicious prosecution, called the decision to withdraw her claim “a victory” and said the “fictional tale” she and her lawyers created was “laughable.”
“The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed,” he said in a statement posted on social media at the time. “This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere.”
In a declaration in Los Angeles last February, the rapper said he believed the plaintiff’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, purposefully inflicted emotional distress on him by filing the claim.
“The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed,” Jay-Z added. “The 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.”
Jay-Z said that the court “must protect victims” but the court also has the “same ethical responsibility” to “protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence.”
“May the truth prevail for all victims and those falsely accused equally,” he concluded.
The woman said in her declaration Thursday that she understood her false claims against the rapper, who has three children with his wife, Beyoncé, caused “immense” suffering.
The Empire State of Mind rapper claims that he lost $20 million in contracts due to false allegations in Buzbee’s lawsuit. He also says that he has been going through deep “mental anguish” since it was filed.
Diddy is also facing a wave of sexual assault misconduct lawsuits, many of which were filed by Buzbee. The Texas lawyer claims his firm represents more than 150 people, both men and women, who allege sexual abuse and exploitation by Diddy.
— with files from Global News’s Katie Scott
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