The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has fully withdrawn her allegations and apologized for the “immense pain” she said her claims caused the rapper and his family, including his wife, Beyoncé.
The woman, who has remained anonymous and is identified in court documents as Jane Doe, said in a declaration filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court that she had never met or spoken with Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter.
“Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Carter,” she stated in the filing.
She further declared that Carter had “never engaged in any inappropriate conduct” toward her.
She also apologized for the “immense pain” her accusations caused the rapper and his family, including his wife, Beyoncé.
“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” she said. “I understand my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone.”
The woman added that she “sincerely and unconditionally” apologized to the “Empire State of Mind” rapper for the “devastating harm” she said she caused to him, his family and his reputation.
Her current attorney, J. Blair Newman, also told Page Six that his client “maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault,” but had been “entirely mistaken” in identifying Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, as one of her alleged attackers.
“Mr. Carter did not rape her, sexually assault her, engage in any inappropriate conduct towards her, and she has never met him,” Newman said.
He added that she “sincerely and unconditionally apologizes to Mr. Carter and his family.”
Doe alleged in a 2024 lawsuit that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, when she was 13 years old.
She initially sued Combs before later amending her complaint to identify Jay-Z as the second alleged assailant.
Jay-Z, 56, strongly denied the allegations from the outset, calling them “heinous” and saying he was especially concerned about the impact on his wife, Beyoncé, 45, and their three children: Blue Ivy, 14, and 9-year-old twins Rumi and Sir.
“My only heartbreak is for my family,” the Grammy-winning rapper said after the allegations became public in December 2024.
“My only heartbreak is for my family,” the Grammy winner said after the allegations surfaced in December 2024.
At the time, he said he and Beyoncé would have to explain the claims to their children, including one who was old enough for friends to see the coverage and ask questions about the allegations.
Doe voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit with prejudice in February 2025.
Jay-Z called the dismissal a “victory,” while saying the case had taken a lasting emotional toll on his family.
“The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed,” he said at the time.
The following month, Page Six reported that Doe was heard in a recording telling private investigators that Jay-Z had not raped her. In the same recording, she reportedly claimed that attorney Tony Buzbee had “pushed” her to pursue allegations against the rapper.
Jay-Z later filed legal action against Doe and her former attorney, Buzbee, accusing them of malicious prosecution, abuse of process and defamation.
Earlier this year, the music mogul spoke publicly about the ordeal, saying the allegations left him “heartbroken” and struggling with “uncontrollable anger.”
In her new declaration, Doe said she had not been threatened or coerced into withdrawing her allegations and had not received or been promised any money from Jay-Z or anyone acting on his behalf.
She also described how she came to make the allegations, saying she saw a Facebook advertisement in 2024 seeking people who believed they may have sexual assault claims against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” Doe said. “I understand my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone.”
According to Doe, the advertisement prompted memories of an alleged rape when she was 13, which led her to contact a law firm. Her case was later referred to attorney Tony Buzbee.
Doe said she disclosed mental health conditions to the lawyers handling her case but claimed they did not ask whether those conditions could have affected her memory or recollection of events.
She also alleged that her claims were not sufficiently vetted before the lawsuit was filed. Over time, she said she began questioning parts of her own account, including whether she had attended a celebrity-filled party at all.
Doe had previously acknowledged issues with her story before voluntarily dismissing the case.
During a December 2024 interview with NBC News, she admitted there were “inconsistencies” in her account after several details could not be independently corroborated.
Among those discrepancies, Doe claimed she had spoken with Good Charlotte musician Benji Madden at the party. However, a representative for the rocker said he and his twin brother, Joel Madden, were on tour in the Midwest at the time.
After Doe’s original lawsuit was filed, Jay-Z later took legal action against her and her former attorney, Tony Buzbee, accusing them of malicious prosecution, abuse of process and defamation.
Following Doe’s recantation, however, attorneys for the music mogul filed a notice voluntarily dismissing her as a defendant in the case.
Doe also claimed her father picked her up in New York after the alleged assault and drove her more than five hours home. However, her father told NBC News that he had no recollection of making such a trip.
Doe now maintains that she was sexually assaulted when she was young but says Jay-Z was not involved in the alleged attack.
Following her recantation, Jay-Z’s attorneys voluntarily dismissed Doe as a defendant in his ongoing lawsuit.
His malicious-prosecution case against Buzbee, Buzbee’s law firm and the remaining defendants is still pending.
