People are questioning billionaire rapper Jay-Z after a clip of him claiming he wouldn’t give his cousin a loan resurfaced.
During a 2022 episode of Kevin Hart’s celebrity talk show called Hart to Heart, the rapper was discussing how money can come between friends and family. Jay-Z then described a scenario in which a cousin asked for a loan of $4,800 to fund a business venture that they say would make $2m in return.
“You gotta explain to him life isn’t like that. Money isn’t free, no one’s giving out opportunities, and then he like: ‘Oh, you don’t believe in my dreams,’” he said in the April 2023 YouTube clip of the episode.
The rapper never clarified whether or not the situation he was describing was real or only hypothetical.
The clip resurfaced a second time on X, formerly known as Twitter, on 30 September alongside the caption, “I’ll NEVER get over a billionaire saying some bulls**t like this!”
The tweet has now gone viral with over 35 million views since first being posted. Thousands of people retweeted or quote-tweeted the post, with all of them weighing in on whether or not the rapper should have loaned out the money, considering his impressive net worth.
According to Forbes, the “Empire State of Mind” rapper has a net worth of $2.5bn, while his wife Beyoncé has a net worth of $540m.
“Jay Z has $2.5bn, his cousin asked for $4,800 and he said no. To put that into perspective, that’d be the equivalent of someone who made $50,000 a year being asked to give a dime,” one response read on X.
Another commenter agreed, writing: “I thought he was [going to] say some ungodly amount of money. Being worth 2.5 BILLION dollars complaining about your cousin asking you for $4,800 for his ‘start up’ is insane actually lmfao.”
“Boy Math is having enough money to stack it to the height of Mount Everest TWICE but your cousin can’t hold $4,800,” a third quote tweet on X read.
Other people suggested that Jay-Z made the right decision by not giving his family member money, because it can complicate relationships and overall family dynamic. “Here’s the tea about giving family money all willy nilly — they’re not gonna go and change their lives with it,” one X post began.
“That’s the bottom line. Nothing will change. Those who know, know. And it’s heartbreaking that the sacrifice you made didn’t truly make a dent at all. It is very rare that a family member is actually dead serious about investment. Very rarely do they actually have the plan written out, information to show, or anything that shows things are in motion regardless of your help.”
Another commenter agreed, writing, “People are mad but I understand. It’s always about the principle and I wouldn’t wanna be looked at as a money machine either. Of course [I’m going to] help my loved ones out but keep in mind I’m not a walking ATM.”
The Independent has contacted a representative for Jay-Z for comment.
