Jay-Z accuser recants sexual assault allegations in new court declaration

A woman who accused rapper Jay-Z of sexual assault has recanted her allegations in a new court declaration, saying she never met or spoke to him and that there was “no truth” to her claims.

A woman who accused rapper Jay-Z of sexual assault has recanted her allegations in a new court declaration, saying she never met or spoke to him and that there was “no truth” to her claims.

The woman, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, made the statements in a 12-page declaration filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

“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 wrote in the declaration.

“There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter,” she continued. “I understand my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone.”

Doe also said she had disclosed certain “mental health conditions” to her legal team before Carter was named in the lawsuit.

She said she had not been promised or received any compensation in connection with the declaration.

Carter, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, had sued Doe, attorney Tony Buzbee and his law firm, accusing them of malicious prosecution and other wrongdoing over the allegations.

A notice filed alongside Doe’s declaration said Carter was voluntarily dismissing Doe as a defendant in that case. His separate claims against Buzbee and his Texas-based law firm remain pending.

Doe’s original lawsuit was filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs in October 2024. It initially alleged that an unidentified male celebrity had also sexually assaulted her at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. An amended complaint filed in December 2024 named Carter.

Doe alleged she was 13 at the time of the incident. Carter denied the allegations, and Doe voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit against Carter and Combs in February 2025.

In the new declaration, Doe said she began doubting her allegations against Carter in January 2025 and later told her lawyers of those doubts.

Her new lawyer, James Blair Newman Jr., said in a statement that Doe “maintains that she was a victim of sexual assault” but was “entirely mistaken” in identifying Carter.

Buzbee has disputed Doe’s account of how the allegations were developed, saying multiple lawyers had spoken with her before he met her and that she had given them the same account.