Why Do People Want Jay-Z to Be Guilty?

Throughout his nearly 30-year career, Jay-Z has been mostly bulletproof. However, some  people have been praying on his downfall for years. The saying goes: heavy is the head that wears the crown. And Jay-Z has been one of rap’s royalty for a while now. So why do people want the rap icon to be the bad guy so badly?

Jigga has been the blueprint for rappers to reach new heights in the music industry and beyond as one of rap’s first global superstars and the genre’s first billionaire. That doesn’t mean there aren’t chinks reported to be in the rap star’s armor, whether real or rumored. Speculation of love children, shady business deals and his association with R. Kelly have contributed to some people’s discontent. A new lawsuit accusing Hov of raping a 13-year-old girl along with Diddy in 2000 has given his detractors more reason to picket on social media for his cancelation.

Jay has vehemently denied the accusations in a lengthy statement and reacted by countersuing his accuser’s attorney. If the rapper is indeed guilty of the allegations against him, he deserves to be in prison or at least held accountable through whatever legal means the alleged victim sees fit. However, it seems like some people have had it out for Hov prior to the claims—which are at this point just claims—for one reason or another.

Jay-Z’s name constantly came up on social media amid Diddy’s legal issues, with many people presuming Hov was involved in the alleged criminal activity as well. There seemed to be no evidence for this association other than Jay and Diddy both being wealthy hip-hop artists and contemporaries.

Hot 97 host Peter Rosenberg recently chastised people for rooting for Hov’s takedown without a verdict of guilt or visual evidence.

“The way people have been waiting for Jay-Z to be accused of something is disgusting and I applaud the aggressiveness of this response,” Rosenberg reacted to Jay-Z’s lengthy rebuttal to the lawsuit allegations. “These things are nothing to play with.”

“Why do people want Jay Z to be guilty so bad?” another person on social media questioned.

“If you are a celebrity and get accused of such things, You almost 100% lose the court of public opinions,” someone else posted. “Whether Jay Z responded or Not… N*ggas want him to be guilty.”

Maybe it comes with the territory of being a celebrity. We’ve seen countless times where artists on top have faced excessive opposition for reasons that appear to be unfounded. Drake is one recent example of a rapper whose reign has waned with some vocal fans, at times leading to unfair characterizations. However, as we’ve seen with Diddy, sometimes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Does Hov have reasonable doubt?