A California judge dismissed a paternity lawsuit filed against rapper Jay-Z by Rymir Satterthwaite, a man who has long claimed to be the musician's biological son.
The case was dismissed with prejudice, permanently preventing Satterthwaite from refiling the suit or requesting a court-ordered DNA test.
Court records obtained Wednesday by Page Six show the decision came after Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, filed a motion to dismiss the federal complaint submitted earlier this year by Satterthwaite through his legal guardian and paralegal, Lillie Coley.
The ruling is the latest setback in Satterthwaite's more than decade-long effort to prove that Carter is his father.
Satterthwaite, 30, alleged that Carter fathered him in the 1990s when he was in a relationship with his late mother, Wanda Satterthwaite.
Wanda Satterthwaite previously sought child support from Carter in a New Jersey court before her death in 2016, but that case was dismissed because it was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.
The case resurfaced in 2014 when Rymir Satterthwaite and Coley submitted new filings that became public the following year.
In a July Instagram post, Rymir Satterthwaite said he had dropped his most recent federal case, suggesting there were behind-the-scenes developments.
"I did withdraw my case," he wrote, adding that he stepped back because there was "plenty going on behind closed doors."
He continued: "I have not stopped my fight. We got to step back and play chess, not checkers."
Attorneys representing Carter, 55, dismissed the renewed paternity allegations as baseless and repetitive.
"The fabricated allegations and claims have been addressed — and rejected — in multiple other courts," they wrote in a filing, calling the case "just the latest" in a "decades long" pattern of "harassment."
In his filing, Rymir Satterthwaite said he wasn't asking for back child support but was seeking damages for harm to his reputation and emotional distress. He also alleged that Carter misled several courts and used legal loopholes to block scrutiny of the paternity claims.
In 2023, Satterthwaite petitioned the court to require Carter to take a DNA test, saying he would not give up on the case.
"This is not going to be over until justice is served," he told the Daily Mail at the time. "I won't stop fighting for this until I win. And I will win because the law is on our side."
Carter's attorney later responded to the outlet, writing, "The allegations have been previously reviewed thoroughly by the courts and have been refuted. I am sure that will be the outcome of whatever filings Mr. Satterthwaite may be currently considering."
Carter, who shares three children with wife Beyoncé, has not commented publicly on the court's most recent decision.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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