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Arts|Jay-Z Accuser Drops Rape Lawsuit Against Him and Sean Combs
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/arts/jay-z-lawsuit-dismissed.html
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The anonymous plaintiff’s account was attacked as inconsistent after an NBC report called details from her account into question.
Feb. 14, 2025Updated 7:10 p.m. ET
The anonymous woman who accused Jay-Z and Sean Combs of raping her when she was 13 years old dropped her lawsuit on Friday against the hip-hop moguls.
Jay-Z’s lawyers had pointed to what they described as “glaring inconsistencies” in the woman’s account, citing information that came to light in an NBC report that called details from her allegations into question.
Jay-Z’s lawyers had asked a judge to dismiss the complaint, but the plaintiff’s lawyers at that time stood by the accuser in court papers, writing that being a victim of sexual abuse can cause memory lapses. Court papers submitted by the plaintiff on Friday said the suit had been “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice,” meaning that it cannot be refiled.
In a statement, Jay-Z, who vehemently denied the claims from the outset, celebrated the decision, writing that the suit was “never going anywhere.”
“The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims,” he said. “I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”
Lawyers for Mr. Combs, who is in a Brooklyn jail awaiting a trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, said in a statement on Friday that the dismissal was “yet another confirmation that these lawsuits are built on falsehoods, not facts.”
