JayZ explains why he refused to settle sexual assault lawsuit: &x27;It ain't in my DNA&x27; Leigh BlickleyTue, March 24, 2026 at 5:42 PM UTC 0 JayZ at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2024Credit: Phillip Faraone/Getty JayZ is ready to talk about the fallout of the sexual assault lawsuit brought against him. "It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken," JayZ, whose real name is Shawn Carter, told GQ in a wideranging interview published on Tuesday.
Jay-Z explains why he refused to settle sexual assault lawsuit: 'It ain't in my DNA'
Leigh BlickleyTue, March 24, 2026 at 5:42 PM UTC
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Jay-Z at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2024Credit: Phillip Faraone/Getty
Jay-Z is ready to talk about the fallout of the sexual assault lawsuit brought against him.
"It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken," Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, told GQ in a wide-ranging interview published on Tuesday.
In the civil lawsuit, filed in December 2024, an anonymous woman alleged Jay-Z had raped her when she was 13 at the MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000 alongside Sean "Diddy" Combs. The Jane Doe plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit in early 2025, according to legal documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly at the time.
Jay-Z always maintained that the allegations against him were false, calling them "frivolous, fictitious and appalling" in a statement to EW following the case's dismissal. Attorneys for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to EW's requests for comment at the time.
"I'm glad we got right to that so we could just get that out the way," the 56-year-old added to GQ. "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?"
As for why he refused to settle the lawsuit before it was dismissed, Jay-Z said, "It ain't in my DNA."
"I know the weight that this is going to bring on our family. I can't do it. I would die," Jay-Z recalled of his stance on the matter, admitting how hard it was to tell his wife of nearly 20 years, Beyoncé Knowles, about the lawsuit.
He continued, "If I settled—make that thing go away. And for me, it would've been cheaper? Yes. Cheaper, quicker, move on with your life. I knew what was coming. I wasn't naive. I called—again, after my family—my partners. They were like, 'What do you need to help? Don't even worry.' In a phone call. Not even a: 'I got to go to the board with this.' It was like a testament because people know me. Like: ' know who you are and that's impossible. Not only are we standing by you, but what do you need?'"
Jay-Z, Beyonce and Blue Ivy Carter at the 67th Annual Grammy AwardsCredit: Francis Specker/CBS via Getty
Jay-Z shared that his and Knowles' eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, defended him in her own way, wearing a jersey with "Jay-Z" on the back to school.
"I was just in the corner, like tears coming down. Seriously. To have that, it's priceless," he said of the supportive gesture amid a difficult time. "People can say that [they'll always be there for you], but it's very rare that you're going to have to exercise it. And in the darkest moment for me, I got to see those sorts of things."
Jay-Z also discussed how difficult it was to have the news of the lawsuit come out on the night of Blue Ivy's premiere of Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, in which she made her feature film debut as the voice Princess Kiara alongside her mom's Queen Nala.
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"I'm still dealing with that," the "99 Problems" rapper said of the experience. "Because that's a horrible thing to put on someone. It was like released the night of my daughter's premiere. Of course that's a question [of whether or not to attend] because this is her moment. But our family, we are a tight unit."
Jay-Z told GQ that the allegations "took a lot out of [him]" and he "needed the people around [him] more than ever."
"I was angry. I haven't been that angry in a long time, uncontrollable anger," he admitted. "You don't put that on someone—that's a thing that you better be super sure. It used to be like that. You had to be super sure before you put those kind of things on a person. Especially a person like me. 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."
Jay-Z added, "I took that really hard. 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."
His accuser admitted that she "made some mistakes" in her recollection of the alleged assault to NBC News in December 2024.
"You should always fight for what happened to you," the plaintiff told the outlet at the time. "You should always advocate for yourself and be a voice for yourself. You should never let what somebody else did ruin or run your life. I just hope I can give others the strength to come forward like I came forward."
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Some of the inconsistencies included that her father picked her up after the incident and that she spoke to Good Charlotte's Benji Madden at the VMAs afterparty. However, her father said he had no recollection of the incident, and reps for Madden told NBC News that he was on tour with Good Charlotte in the Midwest and didn't attend the VMAs that year.
Combs, meanwhile, has been imprisoned since September 2024, when he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The disgraced music mogul was ultimately found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have seen him sentenced to life in prison. He is currently serving a 50-month sentence and is scheduled to be freed on April 25, 2028.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
on Entertainment Weekly
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Source: Entertainment
Published: March 24, 2026 at 08:00PM on Source: MANUEL MAG
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