Jay-Z is in the headlines after hitting back at a lawsuit which alleges that he and fellow rapper Diddy – real name Sean Combs – drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl at a party in 2000.
The anonymous accuser alleges the assault took place at a house party in New York after the MTV Video Music Awards. Both Combs and Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – have denied the claim, with Carter dismissing it as a ‘blackmail attempt.’
Rymir Satterthwaite, who claims to be the illegitimate son of Jay-Z, has now weighed in on the allegations, saying it is ‘heartbreaking and frustrating’ to see the man he says is his father dismiss the claims, alleging that his mother was just 16 years old when she fell pregnant with him.
The 31-year-old said, ‘It is both heartbreaking and frustrating to see Mr. Carter respond to allegations with such deflection and attacks.
‘My late mother, Wanda, was just 16 years old when she became pregnant with me, and for years I have sought clarity about my identity. This is not about greed or spectacle – it’s about uncovering the truth and ensuring all parties are held accountable,’ he continued to tell DailyMail.com.
But who is Rymir Satterthwaite and has Jay-Z ever responded to claims he is his father? Read on to find out all you need to know.
Who is Rymir Satterthwaite?
Rymir Satterthwaite is a rapper from Philadelphia, USA, who claims that Jay-Z is his biological father.
His mother, Wanda Satterthwaite, who died in 2019, alleges that she had protected sex with Jay-Z when she was 16 years old but the ‘protection broke’ and Rymir was conceived.
Rymir has one brother, who is not alleged to be Jay-Z’s.
How old is Rymir Satterthwaite?
Rymir’s birth date is not widely known but it is reported online that he is 31 years old and was born in 1993.
What has he said about Jay-Z being his dad?
Rymir was told by Wanda that she believed Jay-Z was his biological father when he was eight years old, and he first publicly claimed that Jay-Z was his father in 2010. His request for a paternity test was thrown out of a Philadelphia court as his stepfather and Wanda’s boyfriend Robert Graves was listed as Rymir’s father on his birth certificate.
Robert’s name was legally removed from the birth certificate in 2011 after a DNA test proved he was not the father.
In an interview with The Sun in 2018, Rymir said, ‘I don’t want money or anything like that from Jay-Z. I just want him to finally tell the truth to the world.
‘If you say I’m not your son and nothing ever happened with my mum then just take the test. If you are telling the truth, then why is your first answer whenever you’re asked to take a paternity test “no”?’
What did Wanda say about her fling with Jay-Z?
In February 2015, Wanda signed an affidavit about her alleged fling with the rapper – who at the time identified himself as Rock – who she met through her friend Kaleesha Allen.
She wrote, ‘Shawn and I did have protected sex but the protection broke. Shawn and his friend returned two weeks later to see us girls again, but they only found me (Wanda) since Kaleesha was having problems at home.
‘Shawn asked me to leave with him, but I told him I could not because my mother would be upset. I never saw him again until year later on television but still had no idea of his real name until later and did not know how to reach him.’
Has Jay-Z publicly responded to the claims?
No, neither Jay-Z nor his representative has ever addressed the claims in public.
In legal papers filed in 2011, his lawyer stated he is ‘not an interested party with respect to the custody of Rymir Satterthwaite.’
They added, ‘There has been no determination or viable claim of familial relationship with Mr Carter.’
Has anybody else claimed to have a child with Jay-Z?
Jay-Z is, of course, a father of three children with his wife Beyoncé.
They share daughter Blue Ivy, 12, and seven-year-old twins, daughter Rumi and son Sir.
However, in 2011, it was claimed that model Shenelle Scott had also birthed Jay-Z’s child in 2002.
The claim came from Jerald Andrews, the father of Shenelle’s ex-partner Malik Sayeed after they found out Malik was not the father of the model’s son.
A representative for Jay-Z said at the time, ‘There is no truth to these ridiculous rumours. People should be ashamed of using this kind of story and exploiting a child for publicity and ratings.’
Samuel McManus is a senior content creator for Bauer Media, writing celebrity news and features across five of the company’s brands – heat, Closer, Grazia, Bella and Yours. Samuel has worked at Bauer Media since November 2024.