The Publicist Who Lied About Jay-Z & Beyonce

In a world where celebrity infidelity is the norm, Jay-Z and Beyoncé are known for their rock-steady relationship. So when rumors in 2005 spread about an affair between Jay-Z and then hot new singer Rihanna, nobody was more surprised than Jay-Z. The controversy drove 17-year-old Rihanna's album to stellar sales, and Jay-Z and Beyoncé actually split up for a year — all because of a lie started by Rihanna's publicist Jonathan Hay. So how did a 2005 rumor start making headlines in 2015?

The recently published unauthorized biography Becoming Beyoncé details the process Hay used to spread this celebrity lie heard 'round the world, and the timing could not be worse for him. Hay has a habit of earning success off the backs of Jay-Z and Rihanna — he recently launched an album titled "When Music Worlds Collide" on Jay-Z and Beyoncé's platform Tidal. Not only has the album taken off, it has helped Hay's new label Urban Hitchcock gain notoriety, and Hay has already indicated all music produced by his label will be released exclusively through Tidal.

Or perhaps not. As the now very apologetic Jonathan Hay has expressed, "I was blindsided by the news of Becoming Beyoncé coming out and it couldn't come at a worse time for me. I'm currently releasing projects with my label Urban Hitchcock through Tidal, a company owned by Jay-Z and Beyoncé… Hopefully, this news hasn't ruined that relationship for me."

While the successful couple has yet to make a public statement, Jonathan Hay has been taking advantage of their silence as he scrambles to clear the air. Citing desperation for a hit record, he has apologized repeatedly and even alluded to revealing the lie for what it was seven or eight years ago. He has tweeted an email address and phone number for people to reach out and kill the gossip, and likely save his burgeoning label.

It is entirely possible that Jonathan Hay's remorse is sincere, but whether or not it is, fans of Jay-Z and Beyoncé can remain confident that for them, this controversy will only increase their success. Time and time again Jay-Z and Beyoncé have turned controversies such as the Solange attack on Jay-Z into promotions for their various enterprises.

So whether the couple crushes his label by blacklisting him from Tidal, or thanks him for the increased awareness this controversy brings to their platform, is something only time can tell.

Publicist Cluster

• What Does a PR Publicist Do?
• How to Become a Publicist
• A$AP Rocky's Manager Dispute
• When Reporters Sleep With PR People, Publicists & Sources
• Being a Celebrity Publicist in a Post-Truth Era

Sister Cases — Publicist as Story

• Jay-Z — The Quiet Architect — The anchor restraint-and-platform architecture piece. The strategic silence around the Hay episode is one of the documented case examples.
• How Beyoncé Mastered Online Branding — The controlled-scarcity discipline that absorbs episodes like this.
• Rihanna — From Pop Star to Billion-Dollar Founder — The third party in the fabricated rumor.
• Tracy Romulus — Publicist to Kanye West — The publicist-to-operator pipeline case.

Adjacent EPR Frameworks:

• Crisis PR & Crisis Communications pillar
• Celebrity PR Case Studies — The Definitive Archive