Jay-Z admits he felt “uncontrollable anger” over rape lawsuit
Jay-Z has revealed he felt “uncontrollable anger” after being sued for sexual misconduct.
In December 2024, Hov was accused of raping a woman with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs at an afterparty for the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000.
The anonymous woman, who claimed she was 13 when the alleged incident took place, voluntarily withdrew her lawsuit in February 2025.
During a rare interview with GQ, Jay explained how he felt after being hit with the allegations from Jane Doe.
“It was hard,” he admitted. “Really hard. I was heartbroken. 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?”
He continued, “That whole [lawsuit thing], that shit took a lot out of me. I was angry. I haven’t been that angry in a long time, uncontrollable anger. 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.”
Jay-Z went on to speak about the rules he lived by growing up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, New York City.
“Even when we were doing the worst things, we had those kind of rules,” he said. “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. 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.”
Hov revealed that a settlement was never in his mind, claiming he would “die” if he took that course of action.
“I can’t take a settlement – it ain’t in my DNA,” he explained. “First of all, first I had to tell my wife. Let’s back up. I know the weight that this is going to bring on our family. I can’t do it. I would die 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.”