Sean Paul cleans up remarks implying Jay-Z was jealous during 2003 Beyoncé collab

Paul says his comments about Jay-Z while 'Baby Boy' was being made were taken out of context.

Feb 19, 2021

Earlier this year, Sean Paul was a guest on the “Too Live Crew, Action & The Burgerman” radio show in Jamaica. While speaking about Beyonce’s 2003 hit song, “Baby Boy,” on which Paul is featured, he allegedly implied that Jay-Z, during its making, grew jealous about how much time the two spent together.

Now, the Jamaican rapper says his comments were taken out of context. According to HotNewHipHop.com, Paul tried to explain away rumors instead of letting people think there were things going on, but it backfired.

Jamaican rapper Sean Paul (left) says his comments last month implying Jay-Z (right) was jealous about how much time he and Beyonce were spending together during the making of “Baby Boy” were taken out of context. (Photos by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images and Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

“You know, some of them made up their own mind. That’s the whatever. Sometimes with interviews, you can say, ‘I’d rather not speak about it,’ but then, people would think that something was going on,” said Paul. “So, I was trying to defend it like, ‘Hey nah, but weird things did happen; that’s probably why there were rumors,’ but people leave out ‘that’s probably why there were rumors’ part.”

When filming the music video for “Baby Boy,” he and Beyonce shot their parts separately, but Paul maintains the decision had to do with logistical issues and was never due to a mandate from Jay.

Sean Paul and Beyonce perform on stage during the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards at Ocean Terminal in November 2003 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images)

“There were weird things that happened on stage with our performance, with the video. I know a headline said that, ‘Oh, Jay-Z didn’t want me there.’ It had nothing to do with him as far as I’m concerned,” said Paul, who’s reportedly known the Tidal king longer.

“[Beyoncé’s] her own artist that was managed by her own manager,” he continued. “They were going out at the time. They weren’t married yet. I don’t think he would have influenced whatever her vision was.”

Paul noted that “a couple of times while on stage, we tried to perform [‘Baby Boy’] properly. There were problems with the ProTools, which doesn’t usually happen. There was problems with my mic in one performance in Germany. That’s probably why people started talking about [it].”

“I said things were weird at the stage show level, but that’s probably why people made the rumors,” the married father of two said, adding that “nothing ever happened with me and her, except for a hit song. And I never said anything about what they’re reporting me to say.”

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