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Jay-Z Accuser Drops Rape Lawsuit Against Him and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

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Jay-Z Accuser Drops Rape Lawsuit Against Him and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

The anonymous woman who accused Jay-Z and Sean Combs of raping her when she was 13 years old dropped her lawsuit on Friday against the hip-hop moguls.

Jay-Z’s lawyers had pointed to what they described as “glaring inconsistencies” in the woman’s account, citing information that came to light in an NBC report that called details from her allegations into question.

Jay-Z’s lawyers had asked a judge to dismiss the complaint, but the plaintiff’s lawyers at that time stood by the accuser in court papers, writing that being a victim of sexual abuse can cause memory lapses. Court papers submitted by the plaintiff on Friday said the suit had been “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice,” meaning that it cannot be refiled.

In a statement, Jay-Z, who vehemently denied the claims from the outset, celebrated the decision, writing that the suit was “never going anywhere.”

“The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims,” he said. “I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, my loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.”

Lawyers for Mr. Combs, who is in a Brooklyn jail awaiting a trial on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, said in a statement on Friday that the dismissal was “yet another confirmation that these lawsuits are built on falsehoods, not facts.”

“Sean Combs has never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,” the statement said. “No number of lawsuits, sensationalized allegations, or media theatrics will change that reality.”

Tony Buzbee, the lead lawyer for the woman, declined to comment.

The lawsuit, first filed in October, added Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter) as a defendant in December, and in the court papers the unnamed accuser said that she had been raped by Mr. Carter and Mr. Combs at a party at a private residence after the MTV Video Music Awards in Manhattan in 2000.

The woman’s lawsuit said that after the encounter she was picked up by her father, whom she called from a gas station. But NBC reported that her father, who would have had to have driven hours from his home in upstate New York to pick her up, did not recall having done so.

The plaintiff also told NBC in an interview that she had spoken to the musician Benji Madden, a member of the band Good Charlotte, at the party after the awards that night. But Mr. Madden, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the suit, was on tour in the Midwest at the time.

The claim spurred a bitter legal dispute between Mr. Carter’s lawyers and Mr. Buzbee, a high-profile Houston attorney who has separately filed more than 20 lawsuits against Mr. Combs on behalf of clients who said they have been sexually abused.

First, Mr. Carter sued Mr. Buzbee, asserting that a letter he sent the entertainer asserting damages before naming him in the lawsuit had constituted extortion; Mr. Buzbee described the letter as typical lawyer protocol.

After Mr. Carter was added as a defended in the suit, his lawyer, Alex Spiro, responded with a series of court filings seeking to get the claims quickly dismissed, writing in court papers that the well-publicized allegations had caused his client “incalculable harm.” The judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres, pushed back on what she called the “relentless filing of combative motions,” writing in a terse order that “this court will not fast-track the judicial process merely because counsel demands it.”

Mr. Carter’s lawyers then filed a motion for sanctions against Mr. Buzbee in New York. The plaintiff’s lawyers called the motion an “outrageous and unprecedented attempt to silence” the plaintiff. The motion for sanctions was withdrawn earlier this month.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Mr. Carter has not shied away from public appearances, supporting his family and entertainment company, Roc Nation, at an array of high-profile events, where he was embraced by the likes of Taylor Swift and N.F.L. commissioner Roger Goodell. At the Grammy Awards earlier this month, Mr. Carter could be seen on camera celebrating with some of music’s biggest names, including a victory toast with Ms. Swift when Beyoncé won the night’s top honor for album of the year.

Joe Coscarelli contributed reporting.