American rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, is at the centre of a new legal development after a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2024 formally withdrew her claims in a court declaration.
The woman, identified in court records as Jane Doe, stated in a filing submitted on Thursday, September 24, that she had never met or spoken to Carter and that her allegations against him were false. The statement was filed as part of Jay-Z’s ongoing lawsuit against the woman and her former legal team.
Accuser says she never met Jay-Z
In her declaration, the woman said Jay-Z had not assaulted her or engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward her. She also apologised to Carter and his family for the harm she said her previous claims had caused.
The woman had filed a civil lawsuit in December 2024, alleging that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs sexually assaulted her when she was 13 after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Both men denied the allegations. She later withdrew the lawsuit in February 2025.
Filing forms part of Jay-Z’s lawsuit
Following the original lawsuit’s withdrawal, Carter filed a separate case against the accuser and her former attorney, Tony Buzbee, alleging malicious prosecution and other claims. In the latest court filing, Jay-Z’s lawyers said they would drop the woman from that lawsuit after her recantation.
The legal action against Buzbee remains ongoing. The new declaration includes the woman’s account of how she came to contact lawyers after seeing an online advertisement seeking people with claims against Combs. She also made allegations about how her former legal team handled her case; those statements are her account and have not been independently established here.
Attorney says client was mistaken in identifying Carter
The woman’s current attorney said she maintains that she experienced sexual assault, but was mistaken in identifying Jay-Z as an alleged perpetrator. The attorney said the woman had not met Carter and that her allegations against him were false.
The distinction is important: the recantation addresses the claims made against Jay-Z and does not, by itself, resolve broader questions about the woman’s reported experience or the separate legal matters involving other parties.
Earlier case had been withdrawn
The 2024 civil complaint was withdrawn in 2025, and Jay-Z has consistently denied the allegations. In the latest filing, the woman also said she had not received payment from Carter or anyone acting on his behalf for making the declaration.
The development marks a new stage in the legal dispute, with the accuser’s claims against Jay-Z now formally recanted and his lawsuit continuing against her former attorney.
