RIHANNA SUCKS - I give you what you want. YOU insist on comparing Rihanna to Beyonce :-) so be it!: November 2008

Interview with Jonathan Hay
Posted by Nikki on November 26th, 2008

We just got a transcript from Joe Klein who did an interview with Jonathan Hay - the publicist who broke out Rihanna’s first single, Pon De Replay. He talks all about how they (Jonathan Hay & Vada Nobles) did it - and Jonathan even admits to being the one who started the tabloid gossip about Rihanna’s affair with Jay-Z.

I sent the song to Jennifer Vineyard, my contact at MTV. She did me a favor and broke the story on Rihanna, “Pon De Replay” and Vada Nobles. Along with one of my partners, I then began to fabricate stories of Rihanna and Jay-Z, leaking false rumors to tabloids, working internet message boards, etc. We started to get an insane amount of media coverage very fast.

Jonathan Hay is a high-profile publicist and one of the most in-demand executives within the entertainment world today. With his multi-platinum portfolio and superb credentials, I just had to get to know more about this fascinating industry representative who has been named in the holy grail of media kings such as Rolling Stone, TMZ, MTV, VIBE, HipHopDX, and The Howard Stern Show…just to name a few.

For over a decade, Jonathan has served as the great Oz behind some of the world’s biggest stars. And before today, he has rarely, if ever, stepped away from his control panel to expose his face to the world. What he shares will shock and intrigue you, as he lets us behind the curtain for a candid look into some of his biggest publicity stunts ever. In this interview, he speaks on Nappy Roots, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Days of the New, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and many more.

You are credited for breaking Rihanna out into the media. Can you please go into detail about that?

Jonathan Hay: Yes. I met Vada Nobles [the producer of Rihanna’s first single, “Pon De Replay”] at a Starbucks in Orlando, Florida. I’ll never forget that day. Vada told me about this young artist named Rihanna who looked similar to Beyonce and he’d just finished her first single, called “Pon De Replay.” We went back to his home studio where he was working on finishing up the remix for it with Elephant Man. Honestly, the first time I heard the song I didn’t think it was going to work at all because Will Smith had a song out [”Switch”] at that time with almost that exact same beat. But I was intrigued by the project, nevertheless. At first, nobody seemed to really feel the song, so I started a publicity campaign, single-handedly. The whole idea behind the campaign was to get Vada Nobles out there as a producer so that ultimately people would forget about his past lawsuit and conflict with Lauryn Hill on her album The Miseducation Of Lauyrn Hill.

Jonathan Hay: Anyway, I sent the song to Jennifer Vineyard, my contact at MTV. She did me a favor and broke the story on Rihanna, “Pon De Replay” and Vada Nobles. Along with one of my partners, I then began to fabricate stories of Rihanna and Jay-Z, leaking false rumors to tabloids, working internet message boards, etc. We started to get an insane amount of media coverage very fast. There are so many things we did that people don’t even know about, not even Rihanna herself. She was completely unknown and I was paid by Vada Nobles to generate publicity. The mega Island Def Jam deal rumor, we fluffed and fabricated. Rihanna and Vada had no idea what I was doing behind the scenes, but my whole agenda was to get media for the song.

Jonathan Hay: If you check out Rihanna’s Wikipedia Page for “Pon De Replay.” you’ll see that it was on March 17, 2005 [through MTV News] that I helped break Rihanna out into the world. There was a lot more involved but I want to save that detailed interesting chapter for the book.

What do you mean by starting Rihanna rumors?

Jonathan Hay: I mean leaking out sensational stories and spreading them around in the news — to tabloids such as the National Enquirer, music and gossip sites and whatnot. Like when the rumor surfaced that Jay-Z had a new love life and was cheating on Beyonce…that was just to get attention. Rihanna had nothing to do with ANY of that, nor did she know what we were doing. I was just trying to break the single and stay employed by Vada Nobles. Even Vada didn’t know half the stuff I was doing. I kept my strategy a secret at the time because, honestly, everyone would have been against it, the tactics that I used. But I was only thinking about the end result - and look what happened…gossip sells.

So you started that Jay-Z, Rihanna and Beyonce rumor?

Jonathan Hay: I feel awful but, yes, I leaked some of those stories. Looking back, I am ashamed of that; there was zero integrity in that maneuver. But this is entertainment and I wanted to obtain publicity - so I came up with some crazy stories and it worked. Rihanna is one of the biggest stars in the world now, and look at how she stormed into the business! Not to take anything from her - she is a great artist - but every artist needs a launching pad and there is nothing better than a good scandal to get the public’s attention. (Laughing)

You began talking to Jay-Z from your association with Amil [from Roc-A-Fella Records]…

Jonathan Hay: I already had his contact info, but once I started working with Amil it gave me a reason to contact him…

Have you talked to Jay-Z since the Rihanna rumors?

Jonathan Hay: Jay-Z and I had a dramatic-instant involving another artist. That is just water under the bridge now, but it’s definitely going in the book. I still talk to Jay-Z every now and then — I probably nag him (laughing) but he always hits me back. Trust me, my Jay-Z chapter is really an eye-opener. He is the greatest businessman in the history of hip-hop. Jay-Z has succeeded in every business possibility, all across the board. I plan on hopefully sitting down with Jay-Z very soon for some lucrative business opportunities.

Let me interrupt to ask you this question real quick: how does it feel to have the tables turned and actually be the person being interviewed - instead of being the interviewer?

Jonathan Hay: It’s funny being on this side of the table, sitting in the hot-seat, but I’ve got the inside information on what makes a good interview, so I should be pretty good at this (laughing).

Jonathan Hay: Now anxiety is coming to the forefront and I’m starting to panic! I hate bad interviews! This is already a bad start! (laughing)

What goes around...