Rihanna Opens Up About Horrifying Experience at 16 After Old Viral Video Resurfaces: Jay-Z Kept Her in Diddy’s Room Until 3 A.M., Where Diddy Threatened Her – “Sleep With Me or Climb Out of a 29th-Floor Window” – And What Happened Next Is Even More Terrifying…

Rihanna and Diddy

Earlier this month, an anonymous woman accused Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 years old, amending an ongoing civil suit she’d brought against Diddy in October.

The woman claims both men assaulted her at a 2000 MTV VMAs after-party that she was brought to by one of Diddy’s drivers. Although Jay-Z swiftly denied her claim, the allegation has people reexamining another years-old story about his behavior.

A resurfaced video, which started gaining traction on Reddit, shows Rihanna telling Tyra Banks about how she was signed to Def Jam as a 17-year-old in 2005, when Jay-Z was president and CEO of the label.

Rihanna and Jay-Z

After auditioning for Jay-Z and Def Jam chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid at the label’s offices, she said, she was told that they were “interested.” She went on with a giggle, “Then he said, ‘There are two ways to leave here: either through the door with the deal signed or through this window, and we’re on the 29th floor.’” She told a similar story two years later in a 2007 interview with The Guardian, during which she added that Def Jam “locked me into the office till 3 a.m.” and called the whole experience “very flattering.”

Both Jay-Z and Reid have shared similar anecdotes about that night as evidence of how impressed they were with Rihanna’s talent.

The same year it happened, Jay-Z told Sway that Def Jam was so excited about his label’s new up-and-comer that “we didn’t let her leave the office till 3 in the morning, when that contract got signed.” Years later, in Reid’s 2016 memoir, he suggested that the urgency had been his idea — after he heard Rihanna sing, Reid wrote that he told Jay-Z, “Don’t let her leave the building.”

Jay-Z has been described as a mentor of Rihanna’s; she left Def Jam in 2014 to work with his label Roc Nation, and he reportedly helped organize her 2023 Super Bowl halftime performance.

Still, as fans reevaluate what they know about Jay-Z, some think the 2005 incident sounds more sinister in hindsight.

The Cut has reached out to Rihanna and Jay-Z for comment and will update this post if we hear back.