Jay-Z’s name was cleared in a California courtroom this week as a long-disputed paternity case was permanently dismissed.
Jay-Z saw a years-long legal battle over paternity allegations come to a definitive end this week when a federal judge in California dismissed the lawsuit “with prejudice,” permanently closing the door on any future claims tied to the case.
The decision, issued Wednesday by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, means the case cannot be refiled.
“The Court has read and considered the motion and concluded that it is suitable for decision without oral argument,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
The suit was filed by Lillie Coley, who identified herself as the godmother and legal guardian of Rymir Satterthwaite, a man in his early 30s who has long alleged that the Hip-Hop mogul is his biological father. Coley claimed that Jay-Z fathered Satterthwaite in the mid-1990s during a relationship with Wanda Satterthwaite, who passed away in 2019.
According to court records, Satterthwaite was born in July 1993. A 2010 paternity test ruled out Robert Graves, Wanda’s boyfriend at the time, as the biological father. Since then, Coley and Satterthwaite have spent years attempting to bring the case before courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, seeking to compel Jay-Z to take a DNA test.
In December, Satterthwaite told the Daily Mail he was not interested in financial compensation but wanted clarity.
“I really want to resolve this,” he said. “I want to resolve this and get this matter done. I really do. I don’t want any money. I just want the truth.”
Jay-Z has repeatedly denied the allegations. His legal team described the litigation as a “decades-long campaign of harassment.” The judge also ruled Jay-Z can go after Coley for the cost of litigating the issue.
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