Jay-Z accuser recants assault claim in sworn statement
The woman who accused Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter of sexual assault has told a federal court that her claims against him were false.
In a 12-page declaration filed in Manhattan federal court under penalty of perjury, the woman identified as Jane Doe said Carter never raped her. She said she has never met or spoken to him and that he never engaged in inappropriate conduct toward her. She also said she was not promised and did not receive any compensation for the statement, according to Rolling Stone.
The declaration said Doe had disclosed certain mental health conditions to her legal team before they publicly named Carter in her lawsuit in December 2024. Her lawyer in the later malicious-prosecution case, James Blair Newman Jr., said she was mistaken in identifying Carter and that those allegations were false.
Carter has now voluntarily dismissed Doe as a defendant in his ongoing malicious-prosecution lawsuit against lawyer Tony Buzbee and his Texas-based firm. That lawsuit accused Doe and her lawyers of conspiring to pressure Carter into a secret financial settlement under threat of harm to his reputation.
The original case dates to December 2024, when an amended federal lawsuit alleged that Carter raped a 13-year-old girl along with Sean "Diddy" Combs, as reported by Reuters. Carter denied the allegation through his attorney, who described the claim as "provably, demonstrably false". In January 2025, Carter sought sanctions against Buzbee, accusing him of multiple inaccuracies in the complaint.
Doe voluntarily dismissed her complaint against Carter and Combs in early 2025. That dismissal was with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled, according to NBC News. Carter then filed a defamation lawsuit against Doe in March 2025.
Separate litigation has continued around Buzbee. Carter claims Buzbee sent him an extortionate demand letter in November 2024 and added Carter to the lawsuit in December 2024 after he refused to pay. A California appeals court rejected Carter's attempt to revive an extortion and defamation lawsuit against the Texas lawyer, in a ruling reported on 10 September 2026 by Rolling Stone.
The recantation does not end the dispute. Carter's malicious-prosecution claim against Buzbee and his firm remains active in Manhattan federal court, with Doe no longer named as a defendant.
