Sean Paul Says Jay-Z Not To Blame For Axed Performance With Beyoncé At 2003 MTV VMAs

Dancehall superstar Sean Paul has revealed how humiliated he felt when he was unceremoniously axed from the performance of Baby Boy with Beyoncé at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, an occurrence which Jamaicans claimed at the time was orchestrated by her then-boyfriend, Jay-Z.

However, Sean, who was pressed during a recent Daily Beast interview to address the likelihood of any apparent sabotage by Jay-Z, and whether he really thought it was just by “coincidence” that he was “cut out of a bunch of performances and separated during the music video shoot”, instead absolved the rapper of blame, and narrowed down the incidences to the actions of her then management team.

“It’s weird… maybe it had something to do with her management at the time, which we found out later has been a tumultuous relationship for the both of them,” Sean Paul told the publication.

Sean said that he and Beyonce had already discussed doing rehearsals for the song, when on press day he heard “somebody rehearsing Baby Boy.”

“So, I’m like “What’s going on?” We went to the label and they were like ‘Yo…they’re not gonna do the song with you’,” he recounted.

According to Paul, what resulted next was a very embarrassing situation for him, as while sitting in the audience at the VMA awards along with his wife Jinx, Beyoncé strutted down the stairs belting out the song, causing Paris Hilton, who was sitting in the row ahead of his, to turn around and ask: “Why aren’t you up there?”

“It was embarrassing and weird. So, the next day, I was supposed to perform in Washington, D.C., and do the song with her for her father. I went there, did my show, and then waited around for a while. And I got pissed off.   They were like ‘There are 3,000 influential people waiting out there for you to do it.” And I was like, ‘There were 50 million people watching the VMAs. I’m not doing it.  And I left. That was the last time we did the show…,” Sean said.

Jay-Z had earned the wrath and ridicule of Jamaicans back in 2003, after speculation that he had demanded that the Dynamite artist not be featured on the VMA performance, as he was jealous and worried about his then-girlfriend and Sean Paul.   The supposed jealousy arose after, in an earlier live performance, the Pop queen had gyrated on the unassuming Jamaican, to the delight of all who were watching.

Baby Boy was an early hit for Beyoncé when she went solo after Destiny’s Child had split.  The song had spent several weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and had also elevated Sean Paul’s global profile.

In detailing the series of bizarre events and the rumors of an affair, which not only left him feeling highly uncomfortable, but strained his relationship with Beyoncé and Jay Z, Sean Paul said he and the Pop singer did “have a talk” about it.

Noting that he and Beyonce only performed the song three times together, Sean said the affair rumors began surfacing after their second time performing the song ever in Los Angeles, when what he described as a “strange thing” happened, as his microphone was turned off.  He explained that he had not realized his mic was off, but had sensed a lull in the initially wild audience’s “energy”.

“When the song finished, I came backstage and my own band was all pissed off, like ‘Man, that’s f-cked up. You heard yourself? We couldn’t hear you in the crowd. Your mic was off’.  I was like, “How the f-ck did that happen?” Sean lamented.

According to Sean, at the time, he did not think it was sabotage but had misgivings following an MTV event in a stadium in Scotland, where all was well during rehearsals and at the beginning of the official performance, but then moments later the track failed to play his part and became stuck at Beyonce’s hook which was repeated over and over.

“I was like, ‘What’s going on here!?’ She was pissed and was like ‘I need to speak to you.’ So, we go back and talk and she’s like ‘What’s all these rumors about?’ and I’m like ‘Yo, I’m not saying shit,’ and she’s like ‘These rumors f-uck with my career. I just want you to know that.’ I was like ‘They don’t f-ck with mine. So, listen: I met Jay before you and we was friends, so me and him should talk. If he feels a way about that, then we should talk, because it’s not coming from me.’,” he told the Daily Beast.

When asked whether he believed Jay-Z had anything to do with tampering with his audio, the Dutty Rock artist said: “it couldn’t be because he wasn’t even there”.

On whether the “sexy” accompanying music video might have played a role in fuelling the rumors, Sean said he felt it might have, as many Jamaicans had been asking why he was not in any scene with Beyonce.

The Temperature artist went on to explain that at the time of the video shoot, he had thought the scenes would involve both of them dancing together, but was called into a meeting with the director who told him that he was “not going to be in any scene with Beyonce”.

When asked whether he did indeed “hook up with Beyoncé”, Sean laughed and then quipped: “Nah! I wish I did! She’s beautiful.”

In January last year, in an interview on Radio Jamaica’s Two Live Crew programme with Wesley Burger, the host had, midway the discussion, referenced the music video and told Sean that he had realized that Jay Z did “not want him Paul anywhere near Beyonce”, during the time when they were promoting Baby Boy in 2003.

Burger had said that he believed that Jay-Z felt discomfiture about having Sean Paul in Beyonce’s presence for protracted periods, because he was threatened by the Dutty artist’s good looks and the fact that he was a Jamaican man.

“To me, dat man (Jay-Z) neva want you around dah lady deh yuh nuh,” Burgher said, to which Sean Paul responded: “Yes, to me that was something that was apparent at the time,” before adding: “Wi know that artistry is artistry suh a nuh everytime dem ting deh gwan.”

Sean had also revealed that he had to draw upon his innate ability to be diplomatic, after coming to the realization that something was amiss.

“Yuh si weh you seh?  You neva feel comfortable.   Me neva feel comfortable needa, but mi jus use my diplomacy all di while an guh roun any likkle obstacle weh me have inna life,” he had said.