Jay-Z is opening up about the 2024 lawsuit that accused him of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2000.
“It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken,” the rapper, 56, told GQ in a cover story interview published Tuesday, March 24, when asked to “rate” his 2025. “I’m glad we got right to that so we could just get that out the way. Like, I was really heartbroken by everything that occurred. We’re in a space now where it’s almost like consequence is not thought about enough. Because everything is so instant, you know what I’m saying?”
The Grammy winner went on to address the lawsuit directly and again denied the allegations.
“That whole [lawsuit thing], that s*** took a lot out of me. I was angry. I haven’t been that angry in a long time, uncontrollable anger,” he said. “You don’t put that on someone — that’s a thing that you better be super sure.”
Jay-Z claimed that it “used to be” that allegations wouldn’t come out without proof.
“You had to be super sure before you put those kind of things on a person. Especially a person like me,” he said. “Even when we were doing the worst things, we had those kind of rules. There was a line: no women, no kids. You hear those sayings, but those are the things that I took from the street. We lived and died by that. So it’s strict for me, like it meant a lot to me.”
The “99 Problems” artist reiterated that he took the allegations “really hard,” adding, “I knew that we were going to walk through that because, first of all, it’s not true. And the truth, at the end of the day, still reigns supreme.”
In December 2024, Jay-Z was named in a civil lawsuit along with Diddy, 56, that alleged the two men drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000. Jay-Z denied the allegations in a statement at the time, calling them “heinous” and wondering why the alleged victim didn’t file a criminal complaint rather than a civil one.
“Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case,” he said. “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people. I mourn yet another loss of innocence.”
Diddy also denied the allegations via his legal team.
“As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process,” his attorneys said. “In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor.”
In February 2025, the alleged victim withdrew her lawsuit. The suit was dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning she cannot refile. Weeks later, Jay-Z filed a defamation lawsuit against the accuser and her lawyers. One of her attorneys, Tony Buzbee, said the suit had “no legal merit” and claimed the accuser stood by her account.
Five months later, a judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit against Buzbee and the accuser.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
