Mal has dismissed claims that he and Rory were kicked out of Jay-Z’s headlining set at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on May 30. The rapper’s freestyle verse at the festival has been the talk of the town since he seemingly dissed many of his peers, including Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Kanye West.
On June 1, 2026, Tasha K, host of the UNWINE WITH TASHA show, took to X to claim that both Rory and Mal had attended the festival and had been kicked out by Jay-Z due to their affiliations with Drake. Tasha had further alleged that both podcast hosts are signed to Hov’s Roc Nation, writing:
“HOA! Just got word that Jayz allegedly KICKED Rory & Mall out of his section at the Roots Picnic! He allegedly told them I thought you both were Drake FANS! Then proceeded to kick them out! This is bad news considering they are Roc Nation Talent! Signed to him… Everything is allegedly! Even my name is allegedly!”
However, Mal took to X to debunk this claim, stating that he had been at home watching the Oklahoma City Thunder versus the Antonio Spurs game on the same day as the festival in a quote-tweet responding to Tasha’s X post, writing:
“I was home watching game 7.”
Meanwhile, Frazier Tharpe II, a senior editor at GQ Magazine and a Complex alum, stated on X that he had watched the show with Rory, further debunking the claim that Jay-Z had them kicked out. Furthermore, neither Rory nor Mal is signed to Roc Nation. Mal and Rory’s podcast has been hosted by SiriusXM since 2021.
Tasha K’s initial post, which has over 1.3 million views as of this article, has since received a community note with Mal’s X post attached, in addition to Tharpe’s X post and a 2021 SiriusXM article announcing their podcast.
Who did Jay-Z seemingly diss at the Roots Picnic Freestyle?
Jay-Z’s headlining set at the Roots Picnic music festival made headlines on account of his freestyle, where he seemingly dissed his rivals and foes. This list included Kanye West, Drake, Dame Dash, Nicki Minaj, and Tory Lanez, who have, at one point or another, criticized him or his family directly or indirectly.
The biggest clapback came Drake’s way after the Canadian rapper seemingly dissed Hov in ICEMAN‘s Janice STFU, where he rapped, “You boys got big on my name, that’s big enough/We know how you OGs rocking already my n***a, the jig is up.” Hov’s response, a direct callback to Drake’s diss, went:
“The jig is up/N***a I’m up 10/ Wrong chart, champ, you gotta look up again/N***as look up to HOV/I never looked up to them.”
It is unclear why Drake decided to diss Jay-Z on ICEMAN. However, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is behind selecting the headliner of the Super Bowl halftime show. In 2025, Kendrick Lamar was chosen as the headliner, just a year after his highly contentious rap battle with Drake. Additionally, Lamar also performed Not Like Us at the halftime show.
Hov also took shots at Tory Lanez and his father in his freestyle. Lanez is currently in prison for the 2020 shooting incident involving Megan Thee Stallion, who signed a management deal with Roc Nation in 2019. According to Complex, Lanez previously suggested that Roc Nation allegedly sabotaged the rapper in the case.
“The Roc’s not crumbling, till the leprechaun magically run out of pranks/Your son on a federal jail line mumbling something about having too much in his drink/You know how dumb that is?” Hov rapped.
Jay-Z throws shots at Nicki Minaj and Kanye West
Jay-Z also seemingly dissed Nicki Minaj, who has spent the past year publicly calling out Hov and Roc Nation on social media. Minaj’s alleged feud with Hov stemmed from Tidal’s 2021 sale, with Minaj claiming that the Empire State of Mind rapper owed her around $100-200 million in an X post last year.
In his freestyle, Hov seemingly referenced Kenneth Petty, Minaj’s husband, and his status as a registered sex offender, rapping:
“That lady back on that stuff, she sounds like she’s in love with ’em/ Her Ken can’t even pick their kid… enough of them/ A rapper can’t be my opp, I got MAGA republicans.”
Jay-Z also sets his sights on former friends-turned-foes, Dame Dash and Kanye West. Dash and Hov co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Kareem Burke in 1994, but have since fallen out, with Dash publicly criticizing the rapper over the years. In his freestyle, Hvo seemingly referenced Dash’s dental problems, rapping, “N***as teeth is tumbling out their mouth, and somehow I’m the one who done it.”
Meanwhile, Kanye West and Jay-Z have collaborated in the past, even releasing a joint album titled Watch the Throne in 2011. However, West called Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s twins “r*tarded” in an X post in 2025, resulting in their supposed rift.
In his freestyle, Hov referenced West’s recent erratic behavior and rapped, “You’re no maniac, watch how sane he act in my presence… Y’all thugs with y’all thumbs again. Everybody think they the ones insane.”
Drake, Nicki Minaj, and the others have yet to respond to Jay-Z’s alleged diss as of this article.
Edited by Juhi Marzia
