Jay-Z Accuser Recants Rape Allegations, Says Claims Were False
The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has recanted the allegations and said in a new court filing that her claims against the rapper were false.
The woman, who had been identified in court documents as Jane Doe, said she had never met Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.
“Mr. Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever,” she said in the filing. “There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter.”
The statement was included in a filing Thursday from attorneys representing Carter as part of his ongoing malicious prosecution lawsuit against the woman’s former attorney, Tony Buzbee.
Doe had previously accused Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her at a house party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards in New York.
She had alleged that another celebrity, whose name was redacted in court documents, witnessed the assault.
In the new filing, however, Doe said those accusations were false and apologized directly to Carter for the damage caused by them.
“I understand that my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone,” she wrote.
Doe added that she “sincerely and unconditionally” apologized to Carter for what she described as harm to him, his family and his reputation.
The original civil lawsuit was filed by Buzbee in December 2024.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Doe participated in an interview with NBC News and repeated the allegations against Carter and Combs.
NBC News later reported that it identified inconsistencies in her account.
Doe acknowledged at the time that she had “made some mistakes” in describing what allegedly occurred.
Carter strongly denied the accusations from the beginning.
His attorney, Alex Spiro, previously described the case as “frivolous,” while attorneys for Combs called the lawsuit a “shameful money grab.”
Doe ultimately dismissed her lawsuit with prejudice in February 2025, preventing her from bringing the same claims again.
Carter later pursued legal action of his own.
He filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit in New York against Buzbee, alleging that the attorney improperly pursued the accusations against him.
Carter’s attorneys said this week that Doe is being dropped as a defendant from that case.
The new filing also included another claim from Doe concerning the circumstances surrounding her NBC News interview.
She alleged that Buzbee and members of his legal team paid her $1,000 before she participated in the interview.
Buzbee, Doe and representatives for Carter and Combs did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment regarding the latest filing.
Carter had also previously sued Buzbee in California, accusing the attorney of extortion and defamation.
That lawsuit was dismissed in June 2025.
The California Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal earlier this month.
Representatives for Buzbee and his law firm described the appeals court ruling as “a complete vindication for our clients.”
Combs, meanwhile, is currently serving a federal prison sentence after being convicted in July 2025 of prostitution-related offenses in a separate criminal case, per NBC News.
The latest filing marks a major reversal in a case that initially generated widespread attention because of the severity of the accusations against Carter.
Doe’s new declaration does not merely withdraw the allegations but explicitly states that they were false and that she never met Carter.
The development is now expected to play a significant role in Carter’s remaining litigation against Buzbee as the dispute shifts away from the original accusations and toward questions surrounding how those claims were brought forward.
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