Jonathan Hay, Rihanna’s former publicist, has recently spoken out about his past actions after a new documentary on Jay-Z reignited an old scandal. The film, The Disturbing Death of Jay-Z’s ‘Mistress’, released by YouTuber Trap Lore Ross, delves into the mysterious death of Cathy “Kori” White. White, a 28-year-old model, died in 2011 from a reported brain aneurysm. She had reportedly told Jay-Z she was pregnant with his child before her death. At the time, Jay-Z was married to Beyoncé, who was expecting their first child, Blue Ivy. This fueled rumors and speculations about the true nature of White’s death and the scandal.

The documentary mentions Jonathan Hay, who was involved in spreading a false story about a romance between Jay-Z and Rihanna. Hay managed Rihanna at the start of her career when she was promoting her debut single, “Pon de Replay.” He has admitted to fabricating the affair story to generate publicity. “So I was like ‘f*ck Jay-Z,’ since he won’t give us any attention and he’s being disrespectful to Amil, who was a single mother,” Hay said. “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. 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.”

The false rumors led to a police investigation. The police were already scrutinizing Jay-Z due to a separate incident involving former music executive Un Rivera. Though Hay later clarified the story was a publicity stunt, the police initially didn’t believe him. Eventually, Hay was forced to publicly apologize. He claims he was promised promotional opportunities on TIDAL as part of the deal. However, he never received those opportunities.