A woman who accused the US rapper Jay-Z of raping her in 2000, when she was 13, has withdrawn the allegation in a sworn declaration filed in Manhattan federal court, saying she has never met him. The declaration was lodged on Thursday in the defamation case the rapper brought against her and her former law firm, according to Fiji’s FBC News and the ABC, Australia’s public broadcaster.
The proceedings are entirely American and touch nothing in Fiji’s courts, economy or public policy. The story reaches Fiji current affairs by distribution: FBC News, the state-owned broadcaster, ran the recantation for domestic audiences, and FBC’s account — like the ABC’s — stops at what the sworn declaration says. The music titles carrying the same filing go further. AllHipHop‘s headline says the accuser admits she fabricated the accusation; her own new lawyer told NME she was sexually assaulted but misidentified the man. Three different descriptions of one 12-page document are now in circulation locally, which is the reason this site is carrying it.
Key facts
- The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, accused Jay-Z — whose real name is Shawn Carter — and musician Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her in 2000, FBC News reports.
- Her declaration was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the ABC reports. NME and AllHipHop describe it as a 12-page document and date the filing to 24 September.
- Jay-Z’s lawyers said in court papers that they are dropping the woman as a defendant in the defamation case, according to FBC News.
- The defamation and malicious prosecution claim against her former lawyers, including the attorney Tony Buzbee, remains on foot, NME and AllHipHop report.
- Buzbee has denied wrongdoing throughout and disputes her account, both outlets report.
- Representatives for Jay-Z had no comment, FBC News reports; lawyers for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
- None of the four outlets cited here places any Fijian party, court or regulator in the proceedings.
What the declaration says
“Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter never raped me,” the woman wrote in the filing, according to the ABC, which reports she added that Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward her whatsoever and that she has never met or spoken to him. FBC News reports she stated there was “no truth to any of my claims” against him, and that Combs did not rape her either.
NME reports she also wrote that she understands her false accusations caused Carter pain, suffering and damage that can never be fully undone, and that she apologises unconditionally to him and his family. In the declaration she said she was not being paid for her statements, the ABC reports, and NME reports she said she had not been promised or received compensation for making it. Her new lawyer, James Blair Newman Jr., told NME she maintains she was a victim of sexual assault but was “entirely mistaken” in identifying Carter.
How the case reached court
- Late 2024: The woman said she contacted a law firm after seeing a Facebook advertisement seeking information from anyone who may have been harmed by Combs, FBC News reports. She said the advertisement triggered memories of being raped at 13, she filled out an online form, and a firm then contacted her. NME dates that response to the northern hemisphere autumn of 2024.
- October 2024: The original complaint was filed, naming Combs and alleging that an unidentified male celebrity had also assaulted her at an after-party following the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, NME and AllHipHop report. According to FBC News, she said her lawyers at the time filed it “without conducting any independent investigation, background inquiry, or due diligence, and without obtaining any corroboration of the allegations”. The ABC reports she said she was never given a draft to review; NME reports she said the suit was filed without her knowledge.
- December 2024: An amended complaint named Jay-Z as the second man, NME and AllHipHop report. Jay-Z denied the allegations from the outset, NME reports.
- January 2025: She has said she began doubting her claims against Carter, NME reports, having acknowledged inconsistencies in her account.
- February 2025: She voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit with prejudice, NME and AllHipHop report, meaning the claim could not be refiled.
The recording and the dispute between lawyers
In March 2025 a recording emerged in which she was heard saying Carter “didn’t have anything” to do with the alleged sexual acts and that Buzbee had pushed her towards including him in the lawsuit, according to NME and AllHipHop. At the time, NME reports, she separately said she still stood by her claims and alleged she had dropped the case fearing intimidation and retaliation. Buzbee described the recording as a pieced-together fabrication and denied pushing her to accuse Carter.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, whose reporting NME cites, Buzbee disputed her latest account, saying several lawyers had spoken to her before he met her and that she gave them all the same account, and maintaining his firm believed her allegations when it pursued the case.
What is still before the court
The filing does not end the litigation. AllHipHop reports that Jay-Z’s separate lawsuit against the woman’s legal team is still pending and seeks damages over an estimated US$20 million in lost contracts and business deals that the rapper attributes to the allegations. NME and AllHipHop report the claim against the lawyers includes defamation and malicious prosecution.
AllHipHop, citing ABC News, also reports that Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro said the new declaration should leave no doubt about his client’s innocence. AllHipHop and NME report the rapper told GQ the experience left him “heartbroken” and feeling “uncontrollable rage”; AllHipHop dates that interview to April 2026.
Where the Combs case stands
FBC News reports the woman’s original claim was unrelated to the case that led to Combs’s 2025 conviction and 50-month prison sentence on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Lawyers for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the recantation, FBC News reports.
Editor’s note
The paragraph below is this newsroom’s own assessment. It is not reporting from FBC News, the ABC, NME or AllHipHop.
We have run this as a media-literacy item rather than a Fiji current-affairs one, because there is no Fijian jurisdiction, party or economic interest in the case to follow. What there is, for readers here, is a live example of the same sworn document being summarised three ways by outlets Fijians read side by side — a broadcaster staying inside the four corners of the filing, a music site declaring fabrication, and a lawyer insisting his client was assaulted by someone else. Where the versions diverge, the wording of the declaration itself is the safer thing to quote.
From this site’s own reporting (not a wire source): on foreign court cases carrying a Fiji label, see a Georgia lawsuit over a Fiji-branded helicopter crash; on the standing of Fijian newsrooms, FBC among them, see our report on the World Press Freedom Index.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this case involve Fiji in any way?
Not as a legal or economic matter. The ABC reports the declaration was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, and none of the reporting cited here — FBC News, the ABC, NME or AllHipHop — identifies any Fijian party, court or regulator, and nothing in the filing bears on Fiji’s economy, courts or public policy. The Fiji connection is distribution: FBC News, the state-owned broadcaster, carried the recantation for domestic audiences, so FBC’s version is the one most readers here will see first. We are running it as a media-literacy item about how that recantation is being described, not as Fiji current affairs.
How does FBC’s version differ from the music-press coverage?
FBC News and the ABC both stop at what the sworn declaration says — that the woman states there was no truth to her claims against Shawn Carter and that she never met him. AllHipHop’s headline goes further, saying she admits she fabricated the accusation. Her own new lawyer, James Blair Newman Jr., told NME she still says she was sexually assaulted but was mistaken about who did it. Readers following this story across outlets are reading three different characterisations of the same 12-page filing.
Did she also withdraw the allegation against Sean “Diddy” Combs?
Fiji’s FBC News reports the woman said Combs did not rape her either. Her new lawyer told NME she still maintains she was a victim of sexual assault but was mistaken in identifying Carter.
Was the woman paid to withdraw her claim?
In the declaration she said she was not being paid for her statements, according to the ABC. NME reports she also said she had not been promised or received any compensation in exchange for making the declaration.
Could the original 2024 lawsuit be brought again?
No. NME and AllHipHop both report the woman voluntarily withdrew the case with prejudice in February 2025, which means it could not be refiled.
What has Jay-Z said about the effect of the allegations?
AllHipHop and NME report that the rapper told GQ the experience left him “heartbroken” and feeling “uncontrollable rage”. AllHipHop dates that interview to April 2026.
