Woman recants Jay-Z rape allegation, says she never met him
Quick Look
- A woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her in 2000 when she was 13 has recanted her claim, stating she never met or spoke to the rapper and was not paid for her statements.
- She filed a declaration in Jay-Z's defamation lawsuit against her and her law firm, saying her original complaint was filed without investigation or corroboration after responding to a Facebook ad seeking victims of Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Jay-Z sued Jane Doe and her law firm for defamation after she accused him and Sean 'Diddy' Combs of raping her in 2000 when she was 13. She had previously dropped the civil lawsuit. Combs was convicted in 2025 on prostitution-related charges.
In short:
A woman at the centre of a lawsuit accusing music producer Jay-Z of rape when she was 13 says she has never met or spoken with him.
She filed a document recanting her allegations as part of defamation proceedings Jay-Z launched against her and her lawyer.
The woman says she was not being paid for her statements.
A woman who accused musician Jay-Z of rape in a 2024 lawsuit has recanted her claim and said she had never met the billionaire rapper.
The woman, who was identified as Jane Doe in court papers, had accused Jay-Z and musician Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping her in 2000, when she was 13 years old.
The woman later dropped that civil lawsuit, and Jay-Z sued her and her law firm for defamation and malicious prosecution.
A declaration from the woman was filed on Thursday as part of the defamation suit.
In it, the woman said there was "no truth to any of my claims" against Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, and that she was not being paid for her statements.
"Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter never raped me," the woman wrote in statements filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
"I have never met or spoken to Mr Carter.
"Mr Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever."
In court papers, Jay-Z's lawyers said they were dropping the woman as a defendant in the defamation case.
Representatives for Jay-Z had no comment.
She also said Combs did not rape her.
Her original claim was unrelated to the case that led to Combs's 2025 conviction and 50-month prison sentence on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The woman said her lawyers at the time filed the case "without conducting any independent investigation, background inquiry, or due diligence, and without obtaining any corroboration of the allegations" before filing the original complaint in October 2024.
The woman said she had contacted the law firm after seeing a Facebook ad seeking information about anyone who may have been harmed by Combs.
The ad triggered memories of her being raped at age 13, she said, adding that she filled out an online form and was contacted by a law firm.
She said that weeks later a lawsuit was filed on her behalf, but she had never been given a draft to review.
Reuters
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Jay-Z may continue defamation proceedings against Jane Doe's law firm
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What motivated Jane Doe to recant her allegations?
- Will Jay-Z pursue defamation claims against others involved in the original lawsuit?
- Are there legal consequences for the law firm that filed the original complaint?