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 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.
Credit: yahoonews
