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Naya Rivera death: Big Sean says he’d never have written break-up song if he'd known how she would die

Rapper’s track ‘I Don’t F*** With You’ was partly inspired by split with late actor

Ellie Harrison
Wednesday 02 September 2020 15:27 BST
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Naya Rivera death: Police say body found in Lake Piru is Glee star
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Big Sean has expressed regret over his song “I Don’t F*** With You”, which contains lyrics inspired by his split with the late actor Naya Rivera.

Glee star Rivera died by drowning in California’s Lake Piru in July. Her body was found at the lake five days after she went missing.

Authorities had been searching the area since 8 July when the 33-year-old rented a pontoon boat with her four-year-old son. The boy told police she pushed him back into the boat before disappearing beneath the surface.

Rapper Big Sean, who was in a relationship with Rivera in 2013 and 2014, released “I Don’t F*** With You” shortly after their break-up.

It features lyrics including: “Everyday I wake up celebratin’ s***, why? Cause I just dodged a bullet from a crazy b****.”

A Ventura County Sheriff’s helicopter returns to base during the search to find Naya Rivera on 10 July 2020 at Lake Piru, California.
A Ventura County Sheriff’s helicopter returns to base during the search to find Naya Rivera on 10 July 2020 at Lake Piru, California. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

The rapper previously told Complex that his break-up with Rivera inspired some of the song’s lyrics but claimed they “did not come from a bitter place at all”.

Now, in a new interview with Vulture, 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.”

He also said it was “hurtful to even have that [song] be associated with” Rivera, but then claimed that it “wasn’t a diss to her” and that she liked it when he played it for her.

Rivera married Ryan Dorsey after her relationship with Big Sean. Before their divorce in 2018 the pair had a son together, the same child who was found on the boat on 8 July.

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