Who Is Cathy White? The Entertainment PR Who Worked With Jay-Z And Died In 2011

With his name back in the headlines, the allegations have prompted a new wave of TikTok and Reddit sleuths to dive deeper into his past relationships – both work and personal. That includes the former entertainment publicist, Cathy White, who Jay-Z reportedly met on the set of one of his music videos in 1999 and grew close to in the years that followed.

Here's everything we know about her...

Cathy, whose full name was Cathy Koreana White, worked in the music industry and was known for her skills in public relations and for working with artists like Beyoncé and Jay-Z. She was born and raised in Illinois and later moved to New York where she operated her business.

How did Cathy White know Jay-Z?

Around 2010, a former Star journalist and conspiracy theorist called Liz Crokin began investigating an alleged affair between Jay-Z and Cathy. In March, she wrote on social media, 'My boss asked me to look into online blog reports claiming that a woman named Cathy Koreana White, who friends called Kori, was having an affair with Jay Z.

'I then uncovered photos of Cathy hanging with Jay Z and Diddy, no less, at Tao nightclub in Las Vegas. So I called her back and asked her about the photo evidence that debunked her initial claim that she had never met or hung out with Jay Z. At this point, Cathy expressed to me that she would consider going public with her story.' Days later, according to Crokin, the news broke that Cathy had died of a brain aneurism on 1 September at the age of 29.

Her death came as a shock to many people with many suspecting foul play. However, there has been no concrete evidence of any criminal activity related to Cathy's death.

Another rumour from that period, resurfaced recently by conspiracy theorist Jaguar Wright, was that Cathy was pregnant before she died. However, the actress and model, Claudia Jordan, who was also friends with Cathy has debunked the rumours.

Claudia went on Instagram Live to share her thoughts on the story and commented, 'She came to my house a few times during the few months we hung out in 2010 and she was never pregnant around me!'.

'Matter fact we drank, gambled together and played craps in Vegas (no Jay-Z), went to an amusement park with her then bf that was NOT Jay-Z,' she continued. 'And she NEVER told me ANYTHING about her and him being anything! I'm so sick of people telling this story.'

Why do people think Cathy White is Blue Ivy's mum?

In August 2011, Beyoncé announced that she was pregnant with her and Jay-Z's first child. She broke the news after performing 'Love on Top' live at the MTV Video Music Awards as her husband watched on from the audience.

There are some wild and entirely unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that Blue Ivy, Beyoncé and Jay-Z's first child, is in fact Cathy's baby. This theory has been debunked.

Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).