Rihanna's Ex-Publicist Jonathan Hay Confess He Started The Rumor She Was Having An Affair With Jay-Z
The former publicist of Rihanna is coming clean.
Hay confessed to 'All Hip Hop,' according to 'The Jasmine Brand,' that he planted the rumor that Rihanna was having an affair with Jay-Z while he was married to Beyoncé to get the "Love on the Brain" singer more publicity in 2005. The false rumors was born both out of wanting what was best for the young singer's career and frustration at Jay-Z's alleged reluctance to help him in other ways.
"When I executed this controversial publicity and marketing campaign for Rihanna's debut single, she was an unknown artist and I was hungry for a hit, and I knew that 'Pon de Replay' was a special song," he explained. "I had direct access to Jay-Z back then from working with Amil, the female rap artist on a couple of Jay-Z's biggest hit records at the time."
However, when Jay-Z, real name Shawn Corey Carter, refused to support Rihanna in what Hay believed were the deserved ways, Hay took action.
"As he was more focused on Teairra Marí and there was all this talk that he was pursuing a rapper named Lady Sovereign, who he ended up signing months later. Not to mention, Jay-Z was constantly dissing Amil, who had quit the music industry and was living in North Carolina at the time raising her children. So I was like f**k Jay-Z, since he won't give us any attention and he's being disrespectful to Amil, who was a single mother," Hay claimed. "I'm going to get his attention and be disrespectful back to Jay-Z, as Rihanna was the best thing on Def Jam by far."
He decided the best thing to do for his client was to start a rumor because he "thought Jay-Z was a dirtbag, so I put out the story that Jay-Z was in a love triangle with Rihanna and Beyoncé — and that caught fire, sparked conversation, increased radio airplay, press coverage and other forms of attention."
Hay told the outlet he "was in an unapologetic 'by any means necessary' state of mind."
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However, Hay was stopped by authorities after releasing the rumor. They asked him questions about Jay-Z, now 54, as Rihanna was, at the time, a minor. He described how he had a difficult time convincing the authorities that it was all made up.
"No one benefits from reckless ambition. The interrogation was a brutal reality check," Hay said. "However, looking back now, there are some serious red flags, as JAY-Z was once very close to R. Kelly and they have two collaborative albums."
To this day, he continues to attest the rumor did not tarnish Jay-Z and Beyoncé's relationship, who are now parents to 3 children.
"Also, let's be real, the Rihanna publicity stunt did not cause problems for Jay-Z and Beyoncé's relationship," he said. "And I'm tired of hearing that nonsense. Jay-Z caused problems in his relationship."
"I was told to issue statements about Rihanna and Jay-Z and I was to take full blame, again, also falling on the sword,' Hay commented. "Jay-Z's team was supposed to return the favor and help me with some serious TIDAL promotions, but he never did."
