Jay-Z on Why He Wouldn’t Settle the Sexual Assault Lawsuit: ‘It’s Not in My DNA’

In a recent interview with GQ, Jay-Z opened up about the 2024 sexual assault lawsuit filed by a Jane Doe who accused him and Sean “Diddy” Combs of wrongdoing at a 2000 VMAs afterparty. He and Diddy both denied the allegations and countersued for defamation and malicious prosecution. Jay-Z says the case sparked uncontrollable anger. He insisted that you must be “super sure” before making such serious claims. That personal street code—“no women, no kids”—mattered deeply to him. Although settling would have been faster and cheaper, he refused. “I can’t take a settlement. It ain’t in my DNA,” he said. He worried that channeling his rage into music would only add more negativity to the world. Instead, Jay-Z turned his creative energy toward supporting his wife Beyoncé’s projects. He found it rewarding to contribute to her work rather than release his own music under that cloud of anger.

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