Jay-Z’s decade-long paternity case legal saga, brought on by Rymir Satterthwaite, has finally come to an end.
As PageSix reports, a California judge granted the rapper’s motion to dismiss a federal paternity suit filed earlier this year through Rymir Satterthwaite and his legal guardian, Lillie Coley. Essentially, Satterthwaite—who’s now 30 years old—can no longer file the same paternity suit again or demand further DNA testing from Jay-Z.
Following a back-and-forth of motions to dismiss and amend in September, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett sided with Jay-Z in the Nov. 4 ruling.
“The Court has read and considered the Motion and concluded that it is suitable for decision without oral argument,” the order ruling the motion obtained by E! News—in which Coley was named plaintiff—concluded. “The Court GRANTS the Motion and DISMISSES the Complaint without leave to amend.”
Before the dismissal, Rymir Satterthwaite took to Instagram to clarify his decision to step back from the case, writing:
“I did withdraw my case.” He continued, “I have not stopped my fight. We got to step back and play chess, not checkers.”
Judge Garnett noted that the court agrees that the case can be dismissed pursuant to California’s anti-SLAPP statute. This law is “intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate people who are exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Allegations Over The Years
Satterthwaite alleged in court documents that the “99 Problems” rapper impregnated his late mother, Wanda Satterthwaite, back in the ’90s — allegedly making Jay-Z- also known as Shawn Carter – his biological father.
In 2011, Coley—who assumed guardianship over Satterthwaite in 2011 following Wanda’s terminal illness—had filed a lawsuit against the Roc Nation founder for compensatory damages and restitution in May after claiming that Jay-Z had intentionally inflicted emotional distress and committed fraud amid the fallout of past dismissals.
Among the allegations, Coley accused Jay-Z of suppressing evidence, sealing records, “negligently” concealing and misrepresenting “material facts concerning his minimum contacts with the State of New Jersey.”
Jay Z—who shares kids Blue Ivy Carter, 13, and twins Rumi and Sir, 8, with wife Beyoncé—argued that Coley’s “claims arise from a protected act because each and every one” was based on court orders or the Roc Nation founder’s “statements and writings made in prior civil litigation.”
At the time, attorneys for Carter, 55, slammed the longtime paternity allegations as “harassment.”
“The fabricated allegations and claims have been addressed—and rejected—in multiple other courts,” the documents read, describing the legal actions as “just the latest” in a “decades long” string of “harassment.”
Rymir denied in documents that he was filing the suit for what amounts to back child support, but claimed instead he was seeking reputational and emotional distress damages.