The NFL’s relationship with Jay-Z and his company Roc Nation is not changing after a woman accused the rapper and entrepreneur of rape in a lawsuit, said the league’s commissioner Roger Goodell.
“We know about the civil allegations and Jay-Z’s very strong response to that,” Goodell said at a press conference in Dallas on Wednesday. “From our standpoint, our relationship is not changing … including our preparations for the next Super Bowl.”
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, was named as a co-defendant in a refiled lawsuit and accused of raping a 13-year-old girl alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs at an awards show afterparty more than 20 years ago. Carter was revealed on Sunday as the unidentified male celebrity who a Jane Doe accuser claimed had sexually assaulted her alongside Combs during a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in New York City. Combs has denied Doe’s allegations.
Later that night, Carter released a statement denying the allegation and called it an “idiotic” attempt at blackmail, while also confirming he was the unnamed celebrity who sued the woman’s attorney Tony Buzbee and claimed the lawyer was trying to extort him.
“What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle,” Carter wrote in a statement. “No sir. It had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!”
“Sending a basic litigation demand letter and then filing a lawsuit isn’t extortion or blackmail,” Buzbee previously wrote in a statement to Rolling Stone. “That’s the legal practice. We will respond to Mr. Carter’s filing once we review it. We won’t get bogged down in a silly sideshow that tries to make the lawyers the focus of what are very serious allegations brought by a courageous woman.”
The NFL partnered with Roc Nation in 2019 as the league’s live music entertainment strategist. Carter works with the NFL and Apple Music to determine the halftime artists at the Super Bowl, selecting the likes of Rihanna in 2023, Usher in 2024, and, most recently, Kendrick Lamar for the 2025 halftime show. In October, both parties extended their partnership.
“I think they’re getting incredibly comfortable with not just the Super Bowl but other events that they’ve advised us on,” Goodell said of the NFL’s ties with Roc Nation on Wednesday. “They’ve been helpful in social justice areas with us on many occasions. They’ve been great partners.”