On July 24, 2025, Rymir Satterthwaite dropped his most recent paternity lawsuit against Jay-Z. Rymir has long claimed that the famed rapper is his father, going back as far as 2010. The claims have also come with multiple suits against Jay, which the rapper and his lawyers have largely ignored in public.
However, with the case receiving new public scrutiny amid Nicki Minaj’s series of claims against Jay and Roc Nation on X (formerly Twitter), the Reasonable Doubt rapper recently moved to dismiss the case against him. He called the continued filings “harassment.” Minaj has taken to using Rymir’s longtime legal efforts as a means of taunting the Roc Nation co-owner in recent months. But, who is he? And more importantly, why is he so adamant about Jay-Z being his biological father?
What We Know Of Rymir Satterthwaite’s Origins
Rymir Satterthwaite was born in Philadelphia in 1993, though his exact birthday is not clear. He was an aspiring rapper, starting to write lyrics when he was eight years old. Rymir is on record saying that he believed his talent was hereditary in a since-deleted video uploaded to his YouTube channel in 2013. He posts his music on SoundCloud for the most part, though there are a handful of tracks available on Spotify and Apple Music. His social media feeds do not document anything he’s done professionally since 2010. However, they do contain updates on his repeated legal actions against Jay-Z and occasional posts about new music. His Facebook page is dormant, while his Instagram feed is largely inactive as well. However, Rymir’s X page remains in use, reposting supportive messages from Barbz and anti-Roc Nation sentiments.
Rymir Satterthwaite’s Initial Allegations Against Jay-Z
According to the New York Daily News, Rymir Satterthwaite’s mother, Wanda Satterthwaite, filed her first paternity claim against Jay-Z in 2010. In her filing, Wanda claimed that she and Jay had a short-lived relationship in the early 1990s. She claims he was 22 and she was 16. In the initial claim, Wanda asked for two men to take paternity tests: Robert Graves and Jay himself.
Graves, who was believed to be Rymir’s biological father since birth, accepted the request. Graves was not the father, per the Daily News. Jay-Z reportedly refused to take a test entirely. The court filings against Jay did not become public knowledge until February 2015, when Rymir and legal guardian Lillie Coley filed a new lawsuit against him. Coley handwrote the lawsuit, which was submitted in late 2014. Her name appears on the filing instead of Wanda’s because Wanda grew too ill to continue fighting the legal battle by herself.
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Rymir Satterthwaite Continued To Fight In Court, Despite His Mother Falling Ill
According to Radar Online, Wanda dealt with heart failure and lung issues beginning in 2009. She placed Rymir under Coley’s guardianship as her health continued to worsen. Rymir alleged in the 2014 filing that Jay had behaved in a fraudulent manner during previous legal proceedings. He reportedly submitted false information to the courts in an attempt to block Rymir’s paternity claim. At the time, Jay’s lawyers did not publicly respond to the new filing.
In 2016, Wanda delivered a statement expressing support for Rymir’s continued case against Jay-Z and standing by the allegations she made against him. "Nothing has been done," she said in the video, originally exclusive to Radar Online. "The Governor of Pennsylvania is reviewing information regarding allegations of fraud in Philadelphia regarding court orders where the parties names were changed and removed. My message to my son, Rymir, is that the battle is now yours! Don't give up!" Wanda took a backseat to Rymir after the statement due to her deteriorating health.
Rymir Satterthwaite Explains His Legal Battle Involving Jay-Z
In June 2018, Jay-Z seemingly responded to the allegations of hiding a son on the track “Heard About Us,” from Everything Is Love, his joint album with wife Beyonce. "Billie Jean in his prime / For the thousandth time, the kid ain’t mine," he raps. "Online they call me Dad, kiddingly / You’re not supposed to take this dad thing literally."
About a month earlier, Rymir Satterthwaite sat down with The Sun to discuss his allegations against Jay. He claimed to have a lack of interest in money. “He’s supposed to be a positive role model for our community – he stands there screaming ‘Black Lives Matter’ – well, tell the truth and take responsibility,” he told the British publication. He also retold the story about how his mother met Jay. As Wanda first detailed in a signed affidavit from 2015, she and Jay allegedly met in 1992 through a mutual friend, introducing herself with a fake name. Wanda claimed that the two later had protected sex, but the “protection broke.” Save for one last meeting a couple of weeks after the hookup, she said she never saw him again. Rymir added that he believed that Jay’s lawyers were much less cooperative after learning Wanda's age at the time of their alleged fling.
The 2016 filing against Jay-Z claimed that his attorney made Wanda sign legal papers while she was in hospital recovering from a medicated coma. Her name replaced Coley’s on the petition, without consent, and for “nefarious reasons,” according to The Sun. The suit also alleged collusion between Rymir and Jay’s lawyers, claiming that the two were “best friends.” The name change caused the suit to be thrown out. Wanda Satterthwaite died of heart failure in 2019, per the New York Post.
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Continued Filings Against Jay-Z In 2023
In May 2023, Rymir Satterthwaite came with another filing. He attempted to have the case against Jay-Z unsealed and taken to the Supreme Court. He also made another request for Jay to take a DNA test. Jay-Z’s attorneys denied the claims outright. “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,” his lawyers wrote to the Daily Mail. The following December, Rymir filed another suit against Jay. He alleged that between 2012 and 2023, Jay "systematically violated" the legal rights of him, his mother, and godmother through “fraudulent court actions.” These actions reportedly included “sealed records, wrongful sanctions and obstruction of appeals.”
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Rymir Files Another Suit Against Jay-Z In 2025
On May 6, 2025, Rymir Satterthwaite filed another suit against Jay-Z, once again citing the continued refusal to agree to a paternity test. Per Us Weekly, he alleged that his car was shot six times, which he interpreted as a message meant to “silence” him. Rymir’s most recent filing appeared to be the last straw for Jay. He requested that a federal judge dismiss the suit on July 10.
The motion to dismiss the suit followed what Jay’s attorneys referred to as “decades-long harassment.” On July 18, Jay’s attorneys demanded that Rymir’s case be dismissed immediately, according to documents first obtained by Us. His legal team pointed out that Rymir’s paternity was established for someone else in court. That individual paid child support. They also pointed to Wanda’s first filing in 2010. The court dismissed the 2010 suit because she waited seventeen years to name a second person as the potential father of her child and did not attempt to recant the initial claim until Rymir was nearly 18.
Additionally, Jay’s lawyers called the new suit a “transparent attempt” to circumvent a 2022 injunction. The injunction was issued in a different filing that the Satterthwaite family brought against one of his lawyers. It states that Rymir and his godmother cannot file any new suits in New Jersey about this topic without approval from the courts. Jay’s lawyers also argued that, on top of dismissing the case, Rymir should cover all of Jay's legal expenses.
Rymir Drops The Suit
On July 24, Rymir Satterthwaite quietly dropped his May lawsuit against Jay-Z. The reason was not immediately clear, as he did not initially provide one with his withdrawal. Despite the repeated legal actions against him in the continued pursuit of finding out who his biological father is, Rymir maintains that he has no personal issues with Jay-Z. He suggested as much in a 2024 interview with Daily Mail. "I am going to fight until I am not here no more. If it takes another 10 years. Another 50. I may take this to the grave with me. But everyone can say I fought this until the end. I am not trying to do this to make anyone seem like a bad person or a bad father."
Rymir Will Not Call It Quits Yet
On July 26, Rymir Satterthwaite took to Instagram Reels to address the dropping of the lawsuit. He said that there was a lot going on “behind the scenes,” but he was not ending this decade and a half long saga just yet. "I have not stopped my fight, I did withdraw my case, but it's for a reason [...] I have not gotten a settlement. It is not over," he said in the video.
“They try to use all these tactics, call it what you want, bully tactics, to slow it down and change the narrative. We had to step back and play chess, not checkers, so we’re sitting back and we’re just observing everything right now.” He reiterated that a DNA test or settlement has not happened, and he intends on refiling his lawsuit in the future. “I’m standing on business, and I will continue to fight.” As of writing, the future of Rymir’s lawsuit remains uncertain. However, it’s clear that he has no intention of wrapping things up without receiving some answers.
