Jay-Z is finally opening up about the sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against him, revealing in a recent GQ interview just how “heartbroken” and angry he felt over the allegations. The music mogul didn’t hold back, diving straight into the topic during his cover feature for the magazine, which just dropped on Tuesday.
“It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken,” Jay-Z, who is 56, shared. He added that he was glad to address it immediately to “get that out the way.” According to Page Six, the rapper emphasized that he was truly devastated by the accusations, stating, “We’re in a space now where it’s almost like consequence is not thought about enough. Because everything is so instant, you know what I’m saying?”
He recalled feeling “uncontrollable anger” when the lawsuit was initially filed in December 2024. “That whole [lawsuit thing], that s— took a lot out of me,” he told GQ. “I was angry. I haven’t been that angry in a long time, uncontrollable anger.” He added, “You don’t put that on someone—that’s a thing that you better be super sure. It used to be like that. You had to be super sure before you put those kind of things on a person. Especially a person like me.”
Jay-Z really broke down the gravity of the accusations
He took the allegations “really hard,” but steadfastly denied them, insisting they were “not true.” Jay-Z asserted, “I knew that we were going to walk through that because, first of all, it’s not true. And the truth, at the end of the day, still reigns supreme.”
The anonymous woman’s amended civil lawsuit, filed in New York federal court in December 2024, alleged that when she was 13, both Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her. This supposedly happened after the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000, with an unnamed female celebrity reportedly witnessing the events. At the time, Jay-Z, whose birth name is Shawn Carter, called the lawsuit a “blackmail attempt” and the allegations “heinous in nature.”
Despite his motion to have the accuser named or the suit dismissed, a judge ruled that she could proceed with the lawsuit while remaining anonymous. However, the situation took a significant turn in February 2025 when Jay-Z’s anonymous accuser voluntarily withdrew her lawsuit with prejudice. This means she can’t refile it, a decision that followed the emergence of inconsistencies in her story.
Following the dismissal, Jay-Z declared, “Today is a victory. The frivolous, fictitious, and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere.” He continued, saying, “The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
Just a month later, in March 2025, Jay-Z took legal action himself, suing his former accuser and her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, in Alabama. He alleged they conspired to falsely accuse him of sexual assault, causing him to lose a staggering $20 million. Meanwhile, Diddy is currently incarcerated in New Jersey, serving a four-year sentence for transportation to engage in prostitution.
Beyond the legal drama, the Blueprint artist also touched on fatherhood. He and his wife, Beyoncé, who have been married for 17 years, share three children: 14-year-old Blue Ivy and 8-year-old twins Rumi and Sir. “It gives everything meaning, everything,” he expressed about being a dad. “I’ll go cross-country, do what I have to do, and I’m back on the plane that night. I love taking them to school. I love picking them up. Everything means so much more.”
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