Big Sean says he would have “never made” the his hit “I Don’t F*ck With You” had he known ex-fiancée Naya Rivera’s life would end so tragically.
via People:
Speaking with New York Magazine in an interview published Tuesday, the rapper, 32, opened up about Rivera’s death and the song that has long been associated by fans with their 2014 breakup.
“That’s a tough question to answer because I’m still processing a lot of that,” Sean said when asked if he regrets the track, which features E-40. “I don’t feel comfortable talking about it because I want to respect her.”
“She’s made such an impact on people, and she’s done so many great things in her life and her career that it was hurtful to even have that [song] be associated with her,” Sean continued, explaining that the song “wasn’t a diss to her” and that he had played it for Rivera.
“She knew about it, and she liked it,” he said. “We had a breakup that was very public, and we were young and we forgave each other and moved on from that. If I would have known something this tragic would have happened, I would have never made the song.”
Sean and Rivera started dating in 2013, getting engaged in October of that year. Sean broke the engagement off by April 2014, saying at the time that it was a “difficult decision.”
Three months later, Rivera married Ryan Dorsey, with whom she shared son Josey, 4. She and Dorsey finalized their divorce in 2018.
Rivera accidentally drowned in July while swimming with Josey at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Her body was recovered from the lake on July 13, five days after she first went missing.
Officials believe that the Glee star rescued Josey, boosting him back onto their boat, but was unable to save herself.
Sean shared a moving tribute to his ex-fiancée a few days after her death was confirmed, saying that he was still “grieving and in shock.”
People go through bad breakups all the time. It’s impossible to predict the future and we can’t really hold Big Sean’s artistic expression from five years ago against him.
It’s just one of those unfortunate circumstances…
