Jay-Z's Rape Accuser Just Reversed Course, Says 'No Truth' to Her Claims

A woman who filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, has completely withdrawn her allegations, stating in a new court filing that there is "no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter." The 12-page declaration, filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, marks a dramatic turn in a case that had been working its way through the legal system for nearly two years.

What the Original Lawsuit Claimed

The woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, originally filed her lawsuit in December 2024 through Texas attorney Tony Buzbee. According to earlier filings, she alleged that Carter and Sean Combs sexually assaulted her at an afterparty following an awards show, with a third unnamed celebrity allegedly present. Her attorney at the time said the complaint was connected to a broader wave of accusations filed against Combs during the same period.

In her new declaration, Doe says she first saw a social media advertisement seeking sexual assault survivors willing to file claims against Combs, and that it triggered memories of past trauma unrelated to Carter. She now says she was "entirely mistaken in identifying" him as one of the people involved.

The Recantation, in Her Own Words

The new filing is unusually direct. Doe states under penalty of perjury that Carter "never raped her, that she has never met or spoken to him, and that he engaged in no inappropriate conduct toward her whatsoever." Her current attorney, James Blair Newman Jr., confirmed she still believes she experienced an assault at some point, but says she now recognizes she named the wrong person entirely.

The declaration also addresses a question that tends to come up whenever a high-profile accusation gets withdrawn: money. Doe's filing states she received no monetary compensation, payment, or financial consideration of any kind from Carter or anyone connected to him in exchange for the recantation, an attempt to head off any suggestion that she was paid to change her story.

What Happens to the Lawsuit Now

Carter had previously filed a malicious prosecution suit naming both Doe and Buzbee as defendants. Following the recantation, Carter voluntarily dismissed Doe from that suit, which now proceeds solely against Buzbee and his law firm. Buzbee has said publicly that he had not personally reviewed the recantation at the time it was filed and noted that at least four other attorneys had represented Doe before his firm took over the case, a detail that suggests the case changed hands multiple times before reaching this point.

Carter has denied the allegations since they first surfaced, and this recantation effectively closes that specific claim against him, though the broader malicious prosecution suit against Buzbee's firm is still active. Cases like this tend to move slowly through the court system, and Thursday's filing is likely to be referenced repeatedly as that suit continues.

Why This Story Is Getting So Much Attention

Jay-Z has weathered a wave of civil lawsuits over the past two years, most filed by Buzbee's firm as part of a larger set of accusations connected to the Combs case. A full recantation, especially one this detailed and delivered under oath, is relatively rare in high-profile celebrity litigation, which is part of why it's spreading so quickly across entertainment and legal news outlets alike.

The story is also landing in a week already crowded with major entertainment headlines, from Taylor Swift's wedding announcement and surprise single to Wednesday's newly confirmed multi-season plan, making for an unusually busy stretch of celebrity news even by the standards of a typical September. Whether Thursday's filing changes the broader public conversation around the cases still pending against Carter remains to be seen, but as a standalone development, it's about as clear-cut a reversal as these lawsuits get.