Westside Gunn Denies Jay-Z Advice Led to Griselda Rift
Westside Gunn responds after podcaster Mal says the three cornerstones of the label were driven apart after ignoring business tips from Hov.
Westside Gunn performs on stage at Loud Park on November 23, 2025 in Navi Mumbai, India.
Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images.
Westside Gunn is dismissing speculation that some advice from Jay-Z led to a rift within Griselda. The rumors started following podcaster Mal’s claims on a recent episode of The New Rory & Mal that Jay’s influence led to Gunn giving Conway the Machine and Benny The Butcher equity in Griselda Records.
“Something that I knew for a while, but I just never spoke about it publicly… one of the main reasons why there was kind of like, I guess, a split between Griselda was because Westside Gunn didn’t want to give Benny and Conway five percent of Griselda — let them split 10 percent,” Mal said. “Which is something Jay-Z had kind of suggested in a meeting with them. Gunn said, ‘No.’ He didn’t wanna do that.”
Mal continued that he couldn’t understand why Gunn would split things the way Jay suggested with his cousin and half-brother.
“Which to me was shocking when I first heard about it,” Mal stated. “Now don’t get it twisted, Gunn definitely curated the whole Griselda thing. He got it lit, he got it poppin’, but Griselda is not Griselda without the three of them.”
Mal would later claim in the episode that the rumor came “from Jay-Z's mouth.”
But Gunn has pushed back against Mal's claims. While not directly offering a rebuttal, he scoffed at Mal’s interview after reposting a snippet.
“Everybody wanna go viral so bad,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Sh*t disgusting 🤣🤣🤣” Mal responded. “I’m honestly surprised this is a thing. Going viral is never in my thoughts. I spoke to Con and Benny today.”
The conversation began in earnest after Conway dropped a freestyle over Drake’s “Make Them Pay.” In his performance, he referenced Griselda issues, which led to widespread speculation online.
