A woman who previously accused Jay-Z of rape has recanted her allegations against the rapper, telling a Manhattan federal court that she never met or spoke with him and that there was no truth to her claims. The declaration came in Jay-Z's separate federal lawsuit against the woman and lawyers connected to her earlier case, after the original sexual-assault lawsuit was dropped in 2025.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, made the statements in a 12-page declaration filed on 24 September 2026 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
'Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Carter,' the woman said in the declaration.
She also stated that Carter had never engaged in inappropriate conduct towards her and added: 'There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter.'
The victim said she understood that her accusations had caused Carter and his family significant harm. She reportedly also said she was not being paid for making the statements.
Her New Statement Reverses the Original Allegations
The accuser's original lawsuit alleged that Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs sexually assaulted her following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, when she was 13.
The civil allegations were filed in 2024, and Carter was later named in the case. Both Carter and Combs denied the allegations. The woman subsequently dropped the lawsuit in 2025.
Her latest declaration represents a complete reversal of her previous allegations against Carter. However, her new legal representation has said she maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault but was mistaken in identifying Carter.
Her lawyer, James Blair Newman Jr., said the accuser was 'entirely mistaken' in identifying Carter and that the allegations against him were false. That explanation comes from her legal representation and is not a court finding.
Accuser Describes How the Original Lawsuit Began
In her declaration, the woman also gave an account of how the original case was initiated.
She said she saw a Facebook advertisement in October 2024 seeking people who may have been harmed by Combs. According to her account, the advertisement triggered memories of an alleged assault when she was 13, after which she contacted a law firm.
The woman said her former lawyers filed the lawsuit without showing her a draft containing the allegations beforehand. She also accused the lawyers of filing the case without conducting an independent investigation, background inquiry or due diligence, and without obtaining corroboration.
Those statements are the woman's account of how the litigation began and do not establish as a court finding that her former lawyers acted improperly.
Jay-Z Drops Accuser From Separate Federal Lawsuit
Jay-Z subsequently filed separate litigation against the accuser and her lawyers connected to the original case, including attorney Tony Buzbee, alleging claims including defamation and malicious prosecution.
Following the woman's declaration, Carter's lawyers voluntarily dismissed her as a defendant in that later federal case. The litigation involving Buzbee and his Texas-based law firm remains part of the broader dispute.
What the Latest Court Filing Means
The woman's declaration does not amount to a judicial finding about the alleged 2000 incident. It records her current position that Carter was not the person involved and that she had never met or spoken with him.
The filing instead marks a significant change in the accuser's account of her allegations against Carter, while the remaining proceedings concern Carter's claims against the other defendants.
