White House Responds To ‘Open Letter’: We Didn’t Send Jay-Z To Cuba

Of all the things President Obama has to deal with, we're sure this wasn't one he was expecting. But after Jay-Z made some strong insinuations on his new track, the White House's press secretary Jay Carney was forced to set the record straight. When Jay-Z and Beyonce vacationed in Havana, Cuba for their fifth anniversary, many were up in arms -- some radicals even went as far to call the rapper a Communist. And on Apr. 11, Jay made it even worse by insinuating that President Obama helped him get in and out of Havana on his new song, "Open Letter."

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April 12, 2013 7:19AM EDT
White House Jay-Z Open Letter
Image Credit: Courtesy of YouTube

Jay-Z’s Trip To Cuba: ‘The White House Had Nothing To Do With It’

Just hours after the song was released, the White House’s press secretary Jay Carney was already answering questions about it, and staunchly denying the insinuations. Carney at first joked, “I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury… because Treasury offers and gives licenses for travel, as you know, and the White House has nothing to do with it.”

And then he got serious: “I am absolutely saying that the White House from the President on down had nothing to do with anybody’s travel to Cuba. That is something Treasury handles.”

“It’s just a song,” Jay told reporters. “The president did not communicate with Jay-Z over this trip.”

Jay-Z Calls Out President Obama On ‘Open Letter’

Listening to “Open Letter” though, it’s not difficult to see why people were at least asking. On the song Jay-Z raps, “Obama said, ‘Chill, you gonna get me impeached/You don’t need this s**t anyway, chill with me on the beach,'” the insinuation being that the president called Jay during or after his trip and warned him that if people found out he had anything to do with the trip to Cuba he’d be in hot water.

It’d be quite a sensational story, that’s for sure. But with the White House denying any and all involvement, it’s up to you to decide for yourselves what happened. So, HollywoodLifers, what do you think?

LISTEN: Jay-Z – Open Letter

Billboard

— Andrew Gruttadaro

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