Jay-Z Accuser Recants Rape Allegation in Federal Filing
The woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has told a federal court that the allegation was false.
In a sworn declaration filed on Sept. 24, 2026, she said Jay-Z "never raped me" and that she has "never met or spoken to Mr. Carter." The statement was made under penalty of perjury, which means she can face criminal charges if she is lying, according to Billboard.
She also stated that Jay-Z "never engaged in any inappropriate conduct" toward her. The filing says she received no money for the recantation and signed voluntarily and of her own free will.
Much of the declaration concerns her former lawyers, including Texas attorney Tony Buzbee. She said she had only one phone call with them before they filed the case against Jay-Z. She said they filed it "without conducting any independent investigation, background inquiry, or due diligence, and without obtaining any corroboration."
She said she told those lawyers about mental health conditions before the filing, but they never asked whether that affected her memory. She also said her attorneys gave her 1,000 US dollars in cash before her interview with NBC News about the claims.
Her new lawyer, J. Blair Newman, said she maintains that she is a survivor of sexual assault but was entirely mistaken when she identified Jay-Z. Newman said she apologises to Jay-Z and his family for the false identification.
The recantation was filed alongside a request to remove the woman as a defendant in Jay-Z's own federal lawsuit against her and Buzbee. That suit alleges malicious prosecution, a claim that a case was brought without legal basis, and civil conspiracy, a claim that people worked together to bring it.
The original claim was added to a federal lawsuit in December 2024. It alleged that Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs drugged and assaulted the then 13-year-old girl after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The case against Jay-Z was withdrawn in February 2025.
Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, has denied the allegation from the start. He later filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles accusing Buzbee of extortion and defamation, and a separate federal suit alleging malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy. A California appeals court dismissed the extortion claim, finding no evidence that Buzbee filed the case knowing the claims were false.
The legal fight continued into January 2025, when Jay-Z sought sanctions against Buzbee, according to Reuters. In that request, Jay-Z's team accused Buzbee of multiple inaccuracies in the complaint, including details about where the alleged assault took place.
