Woman clears Jay-Z of rape allegation - Punch Newspapers

A woman who accused rapper Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, of raping her when she was 13 has formally withdrawn the allegation, saying her claims against him were false. The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit in 2024 alleging that she had been drugged and raped by Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs at a party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. Both men denied the allegations, while the woman later dropped the lawsuit in February 2025. Carter subsequently filed a lawsuit against her and her former lawyers. As reported by BBC in a declaration filed in the case on Thursday, the woman said she had never met or spoken with Carter and that he had never engaged in inappropriate conduct toward her. “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. She also said her previous claim that Carter and Combs raped her while another celebrity watched was false. “My claims that Mr Carter and Mr Combs raped me while a third celebrity, watched are false. There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr Carter,” she said. The woman said she understood that her accusations had caused Carter significant pain and damage.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google “I understand my false accusations have caused Mr Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone,” she added. She said she had not received money from Carter or anyone acting on his behalf and had not been paid to make the latest declaration. The woman has since been removed from Carter’s lawsuit, while the rapper is continuing his legal action against her former lawyers, including attorney Tony Buzbee. Buzbee told Rolling Stone that he had not seen the woman’s new declaration. He said several lawyers had heard the same account from her before she became his client. PSG’s Hakimi to face rape trial as court rejects final appeal Odogwu Asaba remanded over rape, death of 20-year-old in Delta Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs asks US court to overturn sentence “If for some reason now she is claiming she lied to us and the court, that’s new information,” Buzbee said. The woman also rejected an earlier claim that Carter’s investigators had threatened or harassed her in an effort to make her withdraw her allegations. “I never received any threat from Mr Carter or anyone acting on his behalf,” she said. In her declaration, the woman said she responded to a Facebook advertisement in September or October 2024 seeking people who might have sexual assault claims against Combs. She said the advertisement triggered memories of an alleged rape when she was 13 and that she was subsequently contacted by a law firm. However, she claimed she was not shown a draft of the lawsuit containing the allegations and did not authorise it before it was filed in October 2024. She further alleged that Buzbee and other lawyers representing her filed the lawsuit without conducting an independent investigation or obtaining corroborating evidence. “The October Complaint alleges that Mr Carter and Mr Combs raped me when I was a minor while an unnamed celebrity watched. As discussed above, these allegations were false,” she said. Combs had also denied the allegations, with his lawyer previously describing the civil claims as cases being pursued for media attention rather than legal merit. Buzbee represents several other people who have made allegations against Combs. In July 2025, Combs was convicted on federal prostitution-related charges involving two former girlfriends and was sentenced to four years in prison. Gilbert Ekugbe Gilbert Ekugbe is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over a decade of experience reporting on business and economic affairs. He covers markets, corporate developments, finance, and Nigeria’s broader economic landscape. His reporting is informed by extensive newsroom experience and a strong commitment to accuracy and responsible journalism, helping readers understand complex business issues.

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