Jay-Z Accuser Formally Recants 2024 Allegation

The woman who accused Jay-Z of sexual assault in a 2024 lawsuit has formally withdrawn the allegation. In a declaration filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, the anonymous woman said the claim was untrue and that she had never met or spoken to the rapper, whose legal name is Shawn Carter.

The filing marks a significant turn in a legal dispute that has continued even after the original lawsuit was dismissed. The woman had alleged that Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulted her at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, when she was 13. Both men denied the allegation.

The original lawsuit ended last year

The woman voluntarily dismissed her case with prejudice in February 2025. Carter then pursued legal action against her and her former attorneys, alleging malicious prosecution, abuse of process and defamation. He had consistently rejected the accusation, calling it false and describing the toll it took on his wife, Beyoncé, their children and other relatives.

In the new declaration, the woman said Carter never engaged in inappropriate conduct toward her and apologized for the harm caused to him and his family. Her current attorney separately said that she maintains she survived an assault but was mistaken in identifying Carter. The declaration also states that she was not paid, threatened or coerced into recanting.

Claims against former lawyers remain active

The woman has now been removed from Carter’s lawsuit, but the case against her former legal team continues. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who represented her in the original action, told Rolling Stone that the recantation was new information and said other lawyers had previously heard the same account from her.

The latest filing does not erase the complicated history surrounding the case. Problems with the original account had surfaced publicly before its dismissal, including details that could not be independently corroborated. The new declaration now places the woman’s own formal statement at the center of the record: she says the accusation against Carter was false, while the remaining litigation will determine what responsibility, if any, her former lawyers bear for bringing it forward.