Jay-Z is opening up about fatherhood, family, and one of the most difficult moments he’s faced in recent years.
During an interview with GQ, the rapper spoke about watching his daughter Blue Ivy Carter step into her own during her mom Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour.
“That was amazing,” he said. “On the first tour there was a lot of conversation around her first performance, and she worked really hard to get to that point, but she still wasn’t going for it. She still was going through the motions. And then she just started fighting back. I saw her fight maybe for the first time in her life—like, not everything is just given to her and everything is easy. She fought for it. ”
Jay-Z added that Blue eventually became a constant presence onstage.
“She’s almost on every number. I had to take her off some, like, ‘Man, you can’t be on that stage when she’s singing “Six-inch heels…”; are you crazy?’”
In the same interview, he also spoke about a 2024 lawsuit that claimed he assaulted a teenage girl alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2000. Though the case was voluntarily dismissed in February 2025, he says it still affects him.
“It was hard. Really hard. I was heartbroken. I’m glad we got right to that so we could just get that out the way. Like I was really heartbroken by everything that occurred. We’re in a space now where it’s almost like consequence is not thought about enough,” he said.
“I’m still dealing with that,” he added. “Because that’s a horrible thing to put on someone. It was like released the night of my daughter’s [movie] premiere.”
The timing coincided with the Hollywood premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King, where Blue Ivy and Beyoncé both lent their voices. Despite the circumstances, Jay-Z said he ultimately showed up to support his daughter.
“Of course that’s a question because this is her moment. But our family, we are a tight unit,” he explained.
He then pointed to a moment with Blue that stuck with him during that time.
“Blue has this jersey with ‘Jay-Z’ on the back. She put it on one day. She went to school with the ‘Jay’ [points to his back]. I was just in the corner, like tears coming down. Seriously. To have that, it’s priceless.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Jay-Z reflected on how fatherhood has reshaped his priorities.
“It gives everything meaning, everything,” he said. “I’ll go cross-country, do what I have to do, and I’m back on the plane that night. I love taking them to school. I love picking them up. Everything means so much more.”
