Rihanna's Ex-Publicist Owns Up To Jay Z Cheating Rumor

The flack who concocted the bogus Rihanna rumor that nearly sank Jay Z’s romance with Beyoncé apologized publicly Friday to the “Single Ladies” singer.

“I apologized to her ... this whole thing is very awkward,” Jonathan Hay said in an email to The Daily News.

Awkward indeed.

Hay, who said he apologized earlier to Jay Z, has branched out from being Rihanna’s publicist to producing his own music.

He recently uploaded his project, “When Worlds Collide,” to the fledgling music streaming service Tidal, which is owned by Jay Z and Beyoncé.

His belated apology on Inside Edition came after The Daily News obtained a copy of celebrity biographer J. Randy Taraborelli’s tell-all “Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story,” which — among other things — told how he fanned a rumor that Jay Z was cheating with RiRi to give her first single “Pon de Replay” a boost.

"I was blindsided by the news of ‘Becoming Beyoncé’ coming out and it couldn't come at a worse time for me,” Hay said in a statement. “I'm currently releasing projects with my label Urban Hitchcock through Tidal, a company that is owned by Jay Z and Beyoncé ... Hopefully this news hasn't ruined that relationship for me.”

Hay did not deny pushing what turned out to be a lie.

“The pr stunt that I did was out of desperation to help break ‘Pon de Replay’," he wrote. “It was reckless and I didn't think it was going to work. I was just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick.”

But stick it did. And Beyoncé was so upset she split with Jay Z for a “lonely year” in 2005, Taraborelli wrote.

Hay said he never met Taraborelli but spoke with his researcher.

“I didn't think it would be this big story,” Hay wrote. “But now, seeing Beyoncé on the cover of this book and knowing that people are profiting from speculations and opinions about her really turns my stomach.”

“I'm ashamed that I'm even talking about this. I just want to put this rumor to rest once and for all.”

Rihanna was just 17 and low on the Def Jam totem pole when Hay pulled the “stunt.”

Taraborelli wrote that Jay Z’s had just one complaint when the bogus story about him bedding the Barbadian beauty was being spun out.

“Dude, she’s a minor,” he reportedly said.

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