Jay-Z asks appeals court to revive extortion lawsuit after accuser's sworn recantation

Jay-Z is attempting to revive an extortion and defamation case against Tony Buzbee, the lawyer who represented the woman that accused the rapper of rape before recanting her allegations, Paste Magazine reports.

Shawn Carter — the rapper’s legal name — has petitioned a California appeals court to take another look at his lawsuit, which the court had refused to reinstate after a lower court dismissed the case in July 2025. The petition, which Rolling Stone obtained, calls the woman’s retraction “explosive new evidence” that ought to allow Carter’s “meritorious claims”, first filed two years ago in Los Angeles County, to proceed.

The move follows a sworn declaration signed on Thursday 24 September in the woman’s home state of Alabama, in which she withdrew her original accusations. “Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter never raped me. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter never engaged in any inappropriate conduct toward me whatsoever,” the 11-page declaration reads, according to Paste. It continues: “There is no truth to any of my claims against Mr. Carter. I understand my false accusations have caused Mr. Carter immense pain, suffering, and damage that can never be fully undone.”

In the new filing, Carter argues the court that earlier rejected his claim assumed the woman had dropped her case to “protect herself from harassment and invasion of privacy” — and that her declaration shows she instead dismissed it after having “doubts about [her] claims”. “Jane Doe’s declaration proves that discovery would yield evidence supporting Carter’s claims. Fairness and due process require this court to grant rehearing,” the filing argues.

Buzbee, in response, is arguing that the woman’s retraction was “bought and paid for”, Paste reports — a position echoed by the attorney in coverage by AllHipHop.

The underlying lawsuit, filed in December 2024, accused Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexually assaulting the woman after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, when she was 13. The woman dismissed her case with prejudice in February 2025, according to CBS News. Carter separately continues to pursue Buzbee in a malicious-prosecution action, which remains active in New York federal court.

Sources

• Paste Magazine, “Jay-Z attempts to revive extortion case against rape accuser who recanted allegations”: https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/jay-z/jay-z-attempts-to-revive-extortion-case-against-rape-accuser-who-recanted-allegations
• AllHipHop, “Tony Buzbee Calls Jane Doe’s Jay-Z Recantation ‘Bought-And-Paid-For’”: https://allhiphop.com/news/tony-buzbee-calls-jane-does-jay-z-recantation-bought-and-paid-for/
• BallerAlert, “Jay-Z Accuser Recants Sexual Assault Claims In Court” (citing CBS News): https://balleralert.com/jay-z-accuser-recants-sexual-assault-claims/