Jay-Z Accuser Withdraws Sexual-Assault Claim, Says She Never Met the Rapper

By Angel No Lie | KPD Online | 26 September 2026 

A woman who accused rapper Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, of rape in a 2024 civil lawsuit has now formally recanted her allegation, saying she never met or spoke with him and that there was no truth to her claims against him.

The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, made the statement in a declaration filed in federal court in New York on Thursday, September 24. Her new account represents a major change from the allegations contained in the lawsuit she filed in 2024.

Jay-Z at the 2026 Met Gala in New York. A former accuser has now withdrawn her allegations against the rapper in a federal court declaration.

Woman says allegation against Jay-Z was false

In the declaration, Jane Doe said Carter “never raped me” and that she had never met or spoken with him.

She also stated that Carter had never behaved inappropriately toward her and apologized for what she described as the harm caused by her previous accusations.

Her lawyer, J. Blair Newman, offered an important qualification. He said the woman maintains that she was sexually assaulted but that she was mistaken in identifying Carter as the person who assaulted her.

That distinction is significant because the recantation concerns the allegation against Carter specifically; it does not establish that every aspect of the woman’s account of sexual assault was fabricated.

Court Filing Brings Major Reversal in Jay-Z Sexual-Assault Case

What she originally alleged

The original lawsuit was filed in 2024. Jane Doe alleged that she had been 13 years old when she was sexually assaulted following the MTV Video Music Awards in New York in 2000.

She initially accused Sean “Diddy” Combs and later added Jay-Z to the lawsuit.

The allegations against Carter were strongly denied from the beginning. The lawsuit was eventually voluntarily dismissed in February 2025.

The original allegations were separate from the criminal case involving Combs that resulted in his 2025 conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Jay-Z’s Legal Battle Continues After Accuser Withdraws Claim

Questions surrounding how the lawsuit was prepared

In her new declaration, Jane Doe also raised questions about the legal process that preceded the filing of the original case.

She said the lawyers handling her case did not conduct what she considered adequate independent investigation or obtain corroborating evidence before filing the complaint. She also said she was not shown a draft of the lawsuit before it was filed.

She said she had responded to a Facebook advertisement seeking people who might have information about sexual abuse involving Combs.

According to her declaration, the advertisement triggered memories of an assault she says occurred when she was 13. She subsequently contacted a law firm and was connected to attorneys who eventually brought the case.

Former lawyer disputes aspects of the new account

The woman’s former attorney, Tony Buzbee, has disputed aspects of her new account.

Buzbee told The New York Times that the woman had provided the same detailed account to four lawyers before meeting him and said his firm had hired a former major-crimes police detective to examine the facts.

His comments present a different account of the level of investigation that preceded the lawsuit.

The competing accounts are now part of the wider legal dispute between Carter and his former legal representatives.

Jay-Z’s legal case continues

Jay-Z had previously filed a lawsuit against Jane Doe and her former lawyers, alleging defamation and malicious prosecution.

Following the woman’s new declaration, Carter’s attorneys said they were dropping her as a defendant in that case. The claims against her former attorney remain.

Reuters reported that representatives for Jay-Z did not provide a further comment on the latest development.

The woman also stated that she was not receiving money or a promise of financial compensation from Carter in exchange for her new statements.

A significant reversal

The case has undergone several major changes since the original allegations became public:

What the recantation does — and does not — establish

The latest declaration substantially changes the status of the allegations against Jay-Z.

However, a recantation is not itself a judicial finding about every factual question surrounding an allegation. The available reports show that the woman has changed her account and that the civil litigation has developed accordingly.

Her current attorney maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault but was mistaken about Carter’s involvement. Her former attorney disputes aspects of her account of how the original case was investigated.

The development therefore needs to be reported separately from the original allegations and without treating either account as independently established beyond what the court record supports.

Impact on Jay-Z

Carter has previously described the allegations as deeply damaging to him and his family. He has also spoken publicly about the emotional impact of the lawsuit and rejected suggestions that he should settle the matter privately.

With the woman now removed from the defamation case, the remaining legal dispute is focused largely on the conduct of the lawyers involved in bringing the original allegations.

Independent assessment

The central new fact is straightforward: the woman who previously accused Jay-Z has now formally said that her allegations against him were false and that she never met him.

The circumstances behind the original allegation, the preparation of the lawsuit and the conflicting accounts from the woman and her former lawyers remain subjects of legal dispute. The latest court filing changes the posture of the case but does not, by itself, resolve every underlying question surrounding the episode.