A woman who accused American rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter of sexually assaulting her when she was 13 has formally withdrawn the allegations, saying in a new court declaration that there was no truth to her claims against the rapper.
The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, made the declaration as part of legal proceedings stemming from a lawsuit she filed in 2024 against Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs. She now says she never met or spoke with Carter and that he never engaged in any inappropriate conduct towards her.
In the 12-page declaration filed in federal court, the woman stated: “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 also said her earlier allegations against Carter and Combs were false and acknowledged that the claims had caused Carter and his family significant harm.
The original lawsuit, filed in October 2024 and later amended to name Carter, alleged that the woman had been sexually assaulted at an afterparty following the MTV Video Music Awards in New York in 2000. Carter and Combs both denied the allegations.
The woman voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit in February 2025. The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the same claims could not simply be refiled. At the time, Carter said the allegations had caused significant distress to him, his wife, children and other family members.
In her latest declaration, the woman said her decision to pursue the allegations began after she responded to a Facebook advertisement seeking people who had claims involving Combs. She said the advertisement triggered memories of an assault she believed had occurred when she was 13.
She further alleged that the law firm representing her filed the complaint without conducting sufficient independent investigation or obtaining corroboration. According to the declaration, she also did not authorise the complaint before it was filed.
The woman said she began questioning her allegations against Carter in January 2025 and subsequently decided to withdraw the case.
She also denied receiving money from Carter or anyone acting on his behalf in exchange for the latest declaration. She rejected claims that Carter’s investigators had threatened or intimidated her into changing her account.
Carter’s current legal action against attorney Tony Buzbee and his law firm remains ongoing in New York. Carter has accused the lawyers of malicious prosecution in connection with the earlier lawsuit.
Buzbee, however, has disputed the woman’s latest account. He told Rolling Stone that he had not seen the new declaration and said several lawyers had dealt with the woman before he became involved in the case. He maintained that she had previously given the same account to multiple lawyers.
The latest development follows a separate California legal battle involving Carter and Buzbee. Earlier this month, a California appeals court declined to revive Carter’s lawsuit against Buzbee over claims including extortion and defamation, finding that the available record did not establish that Buzbee knowingly or recklessly advanced false allegations.
Carter’s remaining federal case against Buzbee concerns his allegations of malicious prosecution. The latest declaration by Jane Doe has removed her as a defendant in that action.
