CELEBRITY
RIHANNA’S FORMER PUBLICIST SPEAKS OUT TO AVOID DRAMA SURROUNDING JAY-Z-RELATED DOCUMENTARY
A publicist who worked with Rihanna many years ago has spoken out about a new documentary surrounding JAY-Z and the drama it’s bringing up.
The doc, titled The Disturbing Death of JAY-Z’s Mistress, was shared on YouTube by Trap Lore Ross earlier this month. It centers around the mysterious death of 28-year-old model Cathy “Kori” White, who died in 2011 after suffering a reported brain aneurysm.
Rumors at the time suggested White was pregnant with Jay’s child and in turn that her death had more to it than met the eye.
A publicist by the name of Jonathan Hay is mentioned in the doc, as he represented Rihanna at the start of her career when she was working the single, “Pon de Replay.”
In the past, Hay has admitted to making up a story about Rihanna and Jay having an affair in an effort to drum up more press. Following his mention in the new doc, he took to Instagram to note there was much more to the story, then spoke with AllHipHop more in depth about it.
He explained that after securing Rih a mention on MTV News failed to drum up the buzz he needed, he then turned to putting out the rumor – as he was mad at Hov at the time anyway.
“I started to get desperate and I was so angry at JAY-Z 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,” Hay said. “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 fuck JAY-Z, since he won’t give us any attention and he’s being disrespectful to Amil, who was a single mother. 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 continued: “I 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. I was in an unapologetic ‘by any means necessary’ state of mind.”
However, he was later allegedly stopped by federal agents, who he said were keeping close tabs on the Roc Nation mogul “since he stabbed Lance ‘Un’ Rivera and he was also being implicated in a violent incident with R. Kelly during their joint tour.”