One Of The Biggest Rumors Surrounding Jay-Z And Beyoncé's Relationship Involves Rihanna

Jay-Z has been by Rihanna's side since she signed onto Def Jam at the time he was steering the ship. With the rising Bajan superstar as a protege, Jay-Z spent a lot of time with Rihanna, which helped spark a flurry of cheating rumors at the time. However, more than a decade later, a man claiming to be Rihanna's publicist at the start of her music career owned up to planting the rumors in hopes of blowing up the singer's debut single "Pon De Replay," via NY Daily News. Jonathan Hay made the shocking revelation while speaking with celebrity biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli for his unauthorized tell-all, "Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story." Hay later apologized for planting the rumor, claiming it was just a PR stunt that he didn't think would become so big. 

According to the tell-all, Beyoncé even believed the rumor, and it led to her and Jay-Z parting ways for a year (via Us Weekly). Rihanna's team would later clarify that Hay has never been her publicist and she had no idea who he was. Hay followed up by claiming he was never Rihanna's publicist, he was hired by producer Vada Nobles, who co-wrote "Pon de Replay." While the rumors were proven to be untrue, the reveal came so many years later that it might've allowed for tension to fester.