A significant development has emerged in one of the most closely watched lawsuits in the U.S. music industry: the anonymous woman who accused rapper and businessman Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, of raping her in 2000 when she was 13, alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs, has formally recanted her allegations and acknowledged that they were false.
The case began in late 2024, when the woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit through attorney Tony Buzbee. She alleged that Carter and Combs drugged and raped her at a party following the MTV Video Music Awards.
Jay-Z strongly denied the allegations at the time, calling them “idiotic” and an extortion attempt, and made clear that he had no intention of reaching an out-of-court financial settlement.
Buzbee, who represented the woman at the time, countered that his client had never demanded money from Carter but had sought only confidential mediation, and accused the rapper of trying to intimidate her.
The woman ultimately withdrew her lawsuit in 2025, after which Jay-Z filed a countersuit against her and her former lawyers. Now, as first reported by Rolling Stone, she has submitted a signed declaration clearing the rapper of wrongdoing.
“Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Carter,” she wrote in the declaration. “Mr. Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever.”
She added that she understood her false accusations had caused Carter and his family immense harm.
Her current attorney, James Blair Newman Jr., said his client maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault in the past, but was “entirely mistaken” in identifying Jay-Z as one of the people involved.
According to the woman, painful memories from her past resurfaced after she saw an advertisement urging alleged victims of Sean Combs to come forward.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs
(Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Combs himself faced numerous investigations and serious lawsuits, including allegations that gained wider attention after the release of video showing him assaulting his former partner, Cassie Ventura.
In July 2025, Combs was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and in October was sentenced to four years and two months in prison. He was acquitted of the more serious racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. Like Jay-Z, Combs had also denied the anonymous woman’s allegations.
Jay-Z, who is married to pop superstar Beyoncé, has previously spoken about the toll the accusation took on him and his family, saying he had not felt such anger in years.
“The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed,” he told GQ, explaining why he had refused to settle the case financially. “We don’t play those kinds of games. We have very strict codes of honor. I can’t take a settlement. It’s just not in my DNA.”
Although the woman has now been dropped as a defendant from Jay-Z’s ongoing malicious-prosecution lawsuit, Carter is continuing his legal action against her former attorneys, led by Buzbee.
The rapper argues that they should have known her account was implausible, contradicted publicly available information and was unsupported by any credible investigation.
The lawyers, for their part, are seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed and have described Carter’s case against them as a “malicious prosecution” of its own.