Fact Check: Are Beyonce and Jay-Z really suing Rihanna and A$AP Rocky?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Fans were losing it over the weekend following rumors that Beyonce and Jay-Z had filed lawsuits against Rihanna and A$AP Rocky in the Virgin Islands District Court.

The courtroom battle seemed explosive as supposed screenshots of the court documents made the rounds on social media. But was there actually any truth to it or was this just another elaborate internet hoax?

Where did the lawsuit rumors originate?

It all started when a screenshot began circulating online, allegedly showing two pending lawsuits including Jay-Z v A$AP Rocky and Beyonce v Rihanna.

The image—which spread quickly across social media—claimed the lawsuits were filed on February 22 and were awaiting hearings set for March 8, the Daily Mail reported.

The timing of the rumors couldn’t have been more suspicious. Just last week, Jay-Z (real name Shawn Corey Carter) had a sexual assault lawsuit against him dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could never be refiled. So, fans were understandably confused when they saw his name suddenly attached to a new case.

That said, something about these lawsuits seemed off from the jump.

Fact Check: False

The viral screenshot looked convincing at first glance. But the cracks immediately started to show when fans and legal experts took a closer look.

Firstly there were mistakes in the legal names. In the supposed Jay-Z lawsuit, A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) was referred to by his stage name—which is a major no-no in official legal filings. Real names are always required in court documents.

Similarly, Rihanna’s legal name Robyn Rihanna Fenty was misspelled as "Robin." This was another glaring red flag.

What's more? According to the screenshot, the cases were scheduled for a hearing at 8 am on March 8—which would be totally fine except March 8 falls on a Saturday. It's worth noting that federal courts don’t hold hearings on weekends.

Also, you’d expect major lawsuits like this to be plastered all over major news sources like CNN, TMZ, or Rolling Stone. But a quick Google search showed absolutely no reputable news reports verifying the claim.

As fans debated whether the lawsuits were legit, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation stepped in to deliver a reality check. The label’s official X (formerly Twitter) account posted a simple but brutal response: "Don’t be dumb."

The clever post seemed to be a direct reference to A$AP Rocky’s upcoming album "Don’t Be Dumb," while also completely shutting down the rumors in just three words.

And in case there was any doubt—Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are still affiliated with Roc Nation for distribution, management, and publishing. So the idea that Jay and Bey would suddenly take legal action against them is highly unlikely.

A potential prank?

While fans were arguing over whether the lawsuits were real, a popular X account that originally posted the screenshot doubled down and insisted the lawsuits did appear in the court system.

"In the matters of Knowles-Carter v. Fenty and Carter v. A$AP Rocky, I know s**t I post be sounding cray cray, but I am not, and I ain't no liar. Peep this s**t for your damn self," the account wrote, posting a screenshot from the online court records system.

But then legal expert Meghann Cuniff stepped in with a very different take—suggesting the whole thing may have been nothing more than a prank by a court clerk testing the system.

"I'd bet the farm that the court clerk is testing the ECF system on a quiet Sunday with fake cases," one X user theorized, added, "Usually, they pick Santa to sue. The dockets should go away momentarily."

To which Cuniff responded: "I looked at the docket after seeing all my @'s and told someone that this MUST be some kind of elaborate prank when the only publicly available document in Knowles-Carter v. Fenty is this... 'TRAINING DOCUMENT.'”

She also pointed out that the fake lawsuits had disappeared from the PACER filing system—meaning they were never real cases to begin with.

However, they’ll still show up on sites like Justia.com because they were briefly entered into the system. This means even though they weren’t real, traces of them could stick around online.

Interesting timing for A$AP Rocky

A$AP Rocky has had his fair share of real courtroom drama lately.

Just last week, the rapper was cleared of two felony assault charges stemming from a 2021 altercation with former friend A$AP Relli. Rocky was accused of firing a gun at Relli’s feet during an argument, and he could have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Considering that after weeks in court and the stress of a potential conviction, the last thing Rocky needed was fake lawsuits popping up online.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.