Jay-Z Accuser Recants Rape Allegations and Says She Never Met the Rapper

A woman who accused Jay-Z of raping her in 2000 has withdrawn her allegations and called them false. She had previously claimed that the rapper sexually assaulted her when she was 13 years old.

On September 24, the woman, who has been identified as Jane Doe, filed a statement in New York saying that she had never met Grammy-winning rapper Shawn Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z.

“There is no truth to any of the claims I made against Mr. Carter,” the woman said.

She had previously alleged that Jay-Z raped her after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. According to the original lawsuit, the incident took place at a party at a New York residence, where Sean “Diddy” Combs was also allegedly present. The woman claimed that another well-known woman witnessed what happened, although her identity was not disclosed.

In her new statement, the former accuser described her previous allegations as “false” and reiterated that she had never met Carter.

“Mr. Carter never engaged in any indecent or inappropriate conduct toward me. There is no truth to the allegations I made against Mr. Carter. I understand that my false accusations caused Mr. Carter tremendous pain, suffering and harm that cannot be fully undone. I sincerely and unconditionally apologize to Mr. Carter for the devastating harm I caused him, his family and his reputation,” the woman said in a statement to CNN.

In a comment to CNN, Newman said that his client “continues to maintain that she was a victim of sexual assault, but she was completely mistaken when she identified Mr. Carter as the alleged perpetrator, and those allegations were false.”