Jay-Z has finally broken his silence on the sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against him at the end of 2024, revealing he was left utterly “heartbroken” by the allegations. Per Page Six, The Empire State of Mind rapper opened up about the shocking claims during a cover interview with GQ.
“It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken,” Jay-Z shared, but he was glad to address it directly to “get that out the way.” He went on to explain how deeply affected he was by “everything that occurred,” noting that in today’s fast-paced world, “consequence is not thought about enough.”
The 25-time Grammy winner said that the “That whole [lawsuit thing], that s— took a lot out of me,” he admitted. “I was angry. I haven’t been that angry in a long time, uncontrollable anger.” He stressed that such serious accusations shouldn’t be made lightly, saying, “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.”
I don’t know if the allegations are true, but it must have been horrible for his family
An anonymous woman had filed an amended civil lawsuit against Jay-Z, alleging that she was 13 when she was raped by both Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs, with an unnamed female celebrity reportedly present, following the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2000. Jay-Z emphasized that he took the allegations “really hard,” but insisted they were “not true.” As he put it, “the truth, at the end of the day, still reigns supreme.”
At the time, Jay-Z described the lawsuit as a “blackmail attempt” and called the allegations “heinous in nature.” While a judge initially ruled that the accuser could remain anonymous and proceed with the lawsuit, the situation took a turn. She voluntarily withdrew her lawsuit with prejudice in February 2025, meaning she can’t refile it, after inconsistencies in her story started to emerge.
Jaÿ-Z addresses the now-dismissed 2024 rape lawsuit against him for the first time in a new interview with GQ.
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) March 24, 2026
“That whole Busby… That sh*t took a lot out of me. I was angry,” Hov says in the conversation, published Tuesday (March 24). “I haven’t been that angry in a long time.… pic.twitter.com/Bw6mJxugg8
“Today is a victory,” Jay-Z stated after the lawsuit was dropped. “The frivolous, fictitious, and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere.” He continued, “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 one month later, in March 2025, Jay-Z took his own legal action, suing his former accuser and her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, in Alabama. He’s alleging they conspired to falsely accuse him of sexual assault and caused him to lose $20 million. Meanwhile, Diddy is currently incarcerated in New Jersey, serving a four-year sentence for transportation to engage in prostitution.
