A woman who accused American rapper Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 has recanted her statements, admitting in a new court filing that all her claims against him were false.
According to the BBC, the woman made the admission in a declaration filed in an ongoing legal case involving Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter. She stated that she had never met or spoken to the rapper and denied that he had ever behaved inappropriately toward her.
“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 said in the declaration.
The woman had previously filed a civil lawsuit in 2024 accusing Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs of drugging and raping her at an afterparty following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The lawsuit was dropped in February 2025, with both Carter and Combs strongly denying the claims.
In her latest declaration, she also recanted her claim regarding another bystander.
“My claims that Mr. Carter and Mr. Combs raped me while a third celebrity watched are false. There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” she said.
She acknowledged the severe impact the accusations had on Carter and his family, stating they caused him “immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone.”
Carter had consistently described the lawsuit as a “blackmail attempt” involving “frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations.” Speaking after the suit was dropped, Carter noted that the situation had caused lasting distress to his family: “The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
Despite the original lawsuit being dropped, Carter is continuing legal action against the woman’s former legal counsel, including attorney Tony Buzbee.
Buzbee told Rolling Stone that he had not yet seen the latest declaration, adding that the woman had consistently provided the same account to multiple lawyers before working with him.
“If for some reason now she is claiming she lied to us and the court, that’s new information,” Buzbee said.
In her statement, the woman denied receiving any money, threats, or pressure from Carter or his team to change her account.
“I never received any threat from Mr. Carter or anyone acting on his behalf,” she stated, adding that she was not paid to make the declaration.