With the skeletons tumbling out of Diddy’s closet, it looks like Jay-Z might just need to scoot over and make some room.

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, has recently been named in lawsuits where he, alongside Diddy, is accused of some truly heinous acts involving minors. The idea that such powerhouses could have exploited their influence in such atrocious ways casts a long shadow over their legacies and prompts a deeper reevaluation of their actions through the years. And just when Jay-Z probably thought it couldn’t get any stickier, an old clip of Rihanna on The Tyra Banks Show popped back up to haunt him. 

In the clip from 2006, a young Ri-Ri recounts her nerve-wracking ordeal of getting offered a spot on the Roc Nation record label, of which Jay-Z is the founder. While most of her account seems innocuous enough, one particular comment attributed to Jay-Z raises eyebrows and sets off alarm bells.

THIS IS A 16yr old rhianna TERRIFIED pretending what Jay-z said to her was normal…
Jay/z forced & threatened these girls & boys….
Jay what else did you do?? Your on Diddys list #Diddy #PIGGS pic.twitter.com/dPnblTO7dj

— NYC Strong (@_happilyMarreed) September 22, 2024

Ri-Ri shares a rather bizarre ultimatum from Jay-Z about leaving the room only if she signed the record deal, or, you know, jumped out of the window from the 29th floor. Hyperbole or not, in the current climate, that’s not a great look, Jay. It’s a statement that reeks of coercion, manipulation, and a sickening abuse of power, no matter how you try to spin it.

There’s Jay-Z in his own words back in 2005, telling MTV how they signed Rihanna right then and there and — get this — “didn’t let her leave” until 3 am.

“We signed her that night. We didn’t let her leave the office. Three in the morning is when that contract got signed. So from the meeting around three, four in the afternoon, we signed it by three in the morning that day. I was absolutely certain.”

What is this, the Hotel California? You can check out any time you’d like, but you can never leave? X users wasted no time pointing out the chilling parallels to Diddy’s alleged tactics of blocking exits. As one user scathingly remarked:

Jay-Z used the Diddy tactics of blocking off exists. Jay learned well I guess.

— MarcoRizzolo (@MarcoRizzolo) September 23, 2024

Rihanna was just 16 when she met 35-year-old Jay-Z. In hindsight, that’s a bit of a yikes.

Saying that there’s only 2 ways to leave here: 1. Through the door with you signed or 2. Through the window you not signed?! You say that to a 16 y/o ?!? Wtf…

— TheFloridaFox (@MaybeTinfoilHat) September 22, 2024

And speaking of questionable timelines, let’s not forget Beyoncé. She was 18 when she first got involved with a then 30-something Jay-Z. Again, quite the gap. Now, these age differences alone aren’t necessarily problematic. But when you start to see a pattern of behavior — when you start to notice a trail of younger women, particularly underage girls, in the orbit of a powerful man — it raises some serious red flags.

This isn’t to say Jay-Z’s guilty of anything beyond questionable judgment — courts will figure that part out – but it does underline why these stories are catching fire now. They weave together a narrative that feels a bit too off-key for comfort. The final verdict? Our legal system will do its thing, but the music industry is in desperate need of a top-to-bottom purge of all the creeps, predators, and enablers that have been allowed to run rampant for far too long. It’s time to burn down the old boys’ club and build something better from the ashes.