“I Never Met Him”: Woman Withdraws Sexual Abuse Accusations Against Jay-Z

The woman who accused Jay-Z of sexual abuse when she was just 13 years old has withdrawn her accusations against the rapper and apologized to him and his family for the “great pain” she caused them.

In a statement filed in federal court in Manhattan, the woman, identified as Jane Doe, said that Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, never raped her and that she had never met or spoken with him.

“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter. I understand that my false accusations have caused him pain, suffering and damage that can never be fully undone,” the woman said.

She also apologized “sincerely and unconditionally” to Jay-Z for the harm she claims to have caused him, his family and his reputation, including his wife Beyoncé.

Her current lawyer, J. Blair Newman, said his client continues to maintain she was the victim of a sexual assault, but that she was “entirely wrong” in identifying Jay-Z as one of the people who had assaulted her.

“Mr. Carter did not rape her, did not sexually assault her and did not engage in any inappropriate conduct toward her. She never met him,” Newman said.

How did the accusations against Jay-Z begin?

In 2024, the woman filed a lawsuit claiming that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs had raped her at a party after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000, when she was 13.

The lawsuit was initially filed against Combs, but Jay-Z was later added as a defendant.

Jay-Z immediately denied the accusations and spoke publicly about the impact they had on his family.

In February 2025, the woman withdrew the lawsuit and the case was closed.

Later, Page Six reported that she had been heard on a recording telling private investigators that Jay-Z had not raped her. At the same time, she claimed that her then-lawyer, Tony Buzbee, had pressured her to raise the accusations against the rapper.

Jay-Z then took legal action against her and Buzbee, accusing them of malicious prosecution, abuse of process and defamation.

In the new statement, the woman denied she had been threatened or coerced into withdrawing the accusations. She also said she had not received and had not been promised any payment by Jay-Z or anyone on his behalf.

According to her, it all began after she saw a Facebook ad seeking people who might have sexual assault claims related to Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The ad, she said, brought back memories of a sexual assault she claims to have experienced when she was 13, and she then contacted a law firm.

However, during the process she began to doubt her own memories and whether she had been at the party where she claimed the assault had happened.

She had previously acknowledged some inconsistencies in her account. In an interview with NBC News in December 2024, the woman admitted that some details of her story could not be confirmed.

Among other things, she had claimed to have spoken with musician Benji Madden at the party. His representative said he and his twin brother, Joel Madden, were on tour in the Midwest at the time.