Jay-Z accuser fully recants rape claim, says she never met him

The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has formally withdrawn the allegation, saying in a court declaration that she never met the rapper and that her claims were false. The filing, dated Thursday, September 24, was submitted in Manhattan federal court as part of Jay-Z's ongoing malicious prosecution lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm, according to Rolling Stone and NME.

In the 11-page declaration, the anonymous woman known as Jane Doe wrote, "Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever." She added, "There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter. I understand my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone."

Doe also said she had not been promised or received any compensation for the declaration, and that she made it voluntarily. Her new lawyer, J. Blair Newman, said in a statement that Doe "maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault, but she was entirely mistaken in her allegations identifying Mr. Carter, and those allegations were false." Newman added that she "sincerely and unconditionally apologizes to Mr. Carter and his family."

The recantation marks the end of a two-year legal saga that began in October 2024 when Doe sued Sean "Diddy" Combs, alleging he raped her at an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. An amended complaint filed that December named Jay-Z as a second assailant. Jay-Z denied the claims from the outset, calling them a "blackmail attempt." Doe dropped the lawsuit in February 2025 with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled.

In her new declaration, Doe said she responded to a Facebook ad in autumn 2024 seeking people with sexual assault claims against Combs. She said her initial lawsuit was filed without her knowledge and without her lawyers conducting an independent investigation. She also said she disclosed "mental health conditions" to her legal team but was never asked whether they affected her memory.

Doe said she began doubting her claims against Carter in January 2025. In March 2025, a recording emerged in which she was heard saying Carter "didn't have anything" to do with the alleged sexual acts and that Buzbee had "pushed" her towards including him in the lawsuit. At the time, Doe separately said she still stood by her claims and had dropped the case because she feared intimidation.

Buzbee disputed Doe's account when contacted by Rolling Stone, saying multiple lawyers had spoken to her before he met her and that she gave them the same story. "If for some reason now she is claiming she lied to us and the court, that's new information," he wrote in an email. Buzbee has denied wrongdoing and maintained that his firm believed Doe's allegations when it pursued the case.

Jay-Z's lawyers filed a notice on Thursday dismissing all claims against Doe, though his case against Buzbee and his firm remains pending. Earlier this year, Jay-Z spoke about the impact of the allegations, saying the experience left him "heartbroken" and feeling "uncontrollable rage."

“Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever.”

: Jane Doe, in her sworn declaration filed September 24