Jay-Z says he was left 'uncontrollably angry' over his 2025 sexual misconduct lawsuit, in which he was accused of raping a teen in 2000.
The music mogul, 56, gave a rare interview to GQ alongside his first cover shoot in almost a decade, to mark his 30 years in music and to coincide with his announcement of JAŸ-Z 30, JAŸ-Z 25, and two shows at Yankees Stadium.
In the candid conversation, he was asked about being named in the civil lawsuit in which an woman, using the name Jane Doe, alleged Jay-Z sexually assaulted her when she was 13 alongside Sean '' Combs.
The case was dropped in February last year, before Jay-Z filed his own lawsuit, in which he stated the defendants 'were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth and the most fundamental precepts of human decency.'
In his chat with GQ, the rapper spoke about how he was affected, saying : 'It was hard. 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...
Jay-Z says he was left 'uncontrollably angry' over his 2025 sexual misconduct lawsuit, in which he was accused of raping a teen in 2000
The music mogul, 56, gave a rare interview to GQ alongside his first cover shoot in almost a decade, to mark his 30 years in music and to coincide with his announcement of JAŸ-Z 30, JAŸ-Z 25, and two shows at Yankees Stadium
The insightful interview came alongside a striking shoot
'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…
'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.'
The initial case saw Jane Doe claim the 24-time Grammy-winner and Combs sexually assaulted her when she was 13. She claims the incident took place at an MTV Music Awards afterparty in September 2000 - accusations the duo denied.
The case was dismissed in February last year with the Hard Knock Life rapper saying at the time: 'Today is a victory. The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere.'
After the lawsuit against the rapper was dropped, Jane Doe found herself being sued by Jay-Z, and went on to file papers asking the court to drop his case.
In her documents, Jane Doe said Jay-Z 'fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted' in his lawsuit against her in Alabama, where he is also suing her lawyer Tony Buzbee, People reported after reviewing court docs.
Jane Doe told the court that the 24-time Grammy-winner was trying to sue her over 'privileged' claims made expressly to the court.
She noted in her legal filing that a December 2024 interview she did with NBC News was protected based on the aforementioned claims of 'privileged' claims.
Jay-Z accused the defendants in the case, in addition to attorney David Fortney, of 'malicious prosecution, abuse of process, civil conspiracy and defamation,' according to legal documents filed in Alabama and reviewed by Dailymail.com.
Aside from the heartache of his legal woes, Jay-Z moved on to happier topics when discussing his passion for being a father to his three kids with wife Beyonce - Blue Ivy, 14, and twins Rumi and Sir, eight.
He said: 'It gives everything meaning, everything. I’ll go cross-country, do what I have to do, and I’m back on the plane that night. I love taking them to school. I love picking them up. Everything means so much more.'
Daughter Blue Ivy wowed fans when she joined her megastar mother Beyonce on stage to dance during her Cowboy Carter show.
Speaking about her achievement, he said: 'That was amazing. On the first tour there was a lot of conversation around her first performance, and she worked really hard to get to that point, but she still wasn’t going for it...
'She still was going through the motions. And then she just started fighting back. I saw her fight maybe for the first time in her life—like, not everything is just given to her and everything is easy. She fought for it. She’s almost on every number…
He spoke about fatherhood to his kids with wife Beyonce. The couple share Blue Ivy, 14, and twins Rumi and Sir, eight (Blue, Rumi, Beyonce and Beyonce's mother Tina pictured in May)
'She worked at this, and it makes me proud that she fought for something that she
On relationships and loyalty, he said: 'There are people in your life that’re going to be there for a minute that are not necessarily going to be there for the whole ride. That happens. Some friends are for life. Some friends are for those moments...
'And you got to know when to move. Because these ideas of loyalty will hold you in places that you don’t belong, because it’s not really loyalty. Loyalty is for life...
'So even if we fall out and [now] you’re going on about me, I know that I made the right decision. You wasn’t my friend because loyalty is forever.'
Read The Life of JAŸ-Z in the Words of Shawn Carter by Frazier Thorpe in GQ's spring issue and on GQ.co.uk
