Dame Dash and Jay-Z, once like brothers building an empire, saw their friendship deteriorate into enmity. Beyond blame for anger issues and a love triangle, the real rift emerged when Dame, in love with Aaliyah, sought to protect her memory after her tragic death. Instead of supporting his best friend, Jay-Z committed what Dame sees as the ultimate betrayal, and after two decades of silence, Dame Dash is now revealing Jay-Z's concealed truth about R. Kelly.
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FunTranscript
00:00 I think it's time for us to address the elephant in the room.
00:02 R. Kelly was the first corporately sponsored p**** pile.
00:05 Everybody knew.
00:07 Once the s*** came out on R. Kelly, Jay-Z fled the scene.
00:10 The point was he knew all the time.
00:12 For 20 years, Jay-Z refused to speak out against R. Kelly.
00:16 But his former partner, Dame Dash, won't stay silent.
00:20 Aaliyah is key to everything.
00:22 Aaliyah and I were very serious.
00:24 We talked about getting married.
00:26 So I knew exactly what went on.
00:28 She'd be like, "No, that's a bad, bad man."
00:31 R. Kelly did indeed marry his protege,
00:33 the 15-year-old singer Aaliyah Houghton.
00:35 Aaliyah was like the sacrificial lamb for all that.
00:38 22-year-old rising star Aaliyah
00:40 has been killed in a horrific plane crash.
00:43 It's a pain that you couldn't understand.
00:44 It changed you, turned you into a monster.
00:46 When Dame was at his lowest, Jay committed the ultimate betrayal.
00:51 I had so much trust in my brother.
00:53 But he did things that I thought he would never do.
00:54 So what you think I felt all these years?
00:57 For 20 years, R. Kelly's power protected him.
01:00 At that time, we did not look hard enough.
01:03 Remember Aaliyah's album cover?
01:05 "Age ain't nothing but a number."
01:07 Sitting back there like Perv Master.
01:09 I mean, I wasn't there.
01:10 You know, I ain't have nothing to do with that.
01:12 They made a song together called "Not Guilty."
01:14 Anybody that knows what happened to my girl,
01:16 that [bleep] with me, should not be [bleep] with homie. Period.
01:20 Tell me about the relationship with Jay-Z.
01:22 You and Jay-Z formed Rockefeller Records in the '90s.
01:25 Are you and Jay-Z still friends?
01:27 Well, you know, but there's been things where
01:28 he's been in business with people that are against my honor code.
01:32 So because of that, I kind of have to keep a distance.
01:35 As you hear all this other stuff in the news with R. Kelly,
01:37 how does it make you feel about him?
01:40 I was just shocked at how long he got away with it.
01:44 How many people turned and looked the other way.
01:47 How many people were still, you know,
01:50 involved with him in any kind of way,
01:52 knowing all those things.
01:53 Before R. Kelly, Dane and Jay were inseparable
01:56 as they built an empire together.
01:59 You've been with Jay-Z since the beginning, right?
02:01 I mean, yeah, about 10, 15 years.
02:03 Jay-Z and Dane came from street money
02:06 to starting a label that nobody wanted to sign Jay-Z,
02:10 so they created their own and turned around
02:12 and got him famous to where he got a deal,
02:15 they got a deal at Def Jam.
02:17 You know, we all know we're a family here at Rockefeller.
02:19 Jay's my best friend.
02:20 I'm not ashamed to say it.
02:22 Aww!
02:24 I love you, man!
02:25 [laughter]
02:26 And we all know this, we're close,
02:28 and that's one of the reasons why we're so tight as a family.
02:30 Dane always fought for Jay, even when no one else would.
02:34 I took it more personal than business
02:36 because I was fighting for my friends and my brothers,
02:38 as opposed to people I didn't know.
02:40 This is the man that came in the corporate offices
02:44 and when they was robbing us,
02:46 he made sure we got what we were supposed to get.
02:49 And we built this from nothing.
02:51 So there's nothing that we can't see our way through.
02:54 But when Dane met Aaliyah, everything changed.
02:58 She was one of those people that if she did something first,
03:00 everyone followed suit,
03:02 because she was a very forward thinker.
03:03 Now, not only do you have your self-titled album coming out,
03:05 we just heard that you have been confirmed
03:07 for "Matrix 2" and "The Matrix."
03:09 Yeah.
03:10 [cheers and applause]
03:11 Oh, my God, congratulations!
03:13 I feel so blessed because everything that I've always wanted
03:16 is happening to me,
03:17 and I just feel like I have so many places to go
03:19 and so many things to enjoy.
03:21 But I've never seen anyone
03:22 that was going to affect the world like she did,
03:25 despite the fact that she went through a lot of bull[bleep]
03:27 still very innocent and not jaded.
03:30 Aaliyah could see a different side of Dane,
03:32 but as they got closer, there was one thing in their way.
03:35 Our intention at first wasn't even to be in love.
03:38 We were just really good friends,
03:40 and we fell for real.
03:41 It was almost an accident.
03:43 My friend Natani brought me to this photo shoot in L.A.,
03:48 and it was called, like, "The It Girls,"
03:50 and we were talking about things about your soul
03:52 and the evolution of your soul,
03:53 and that was where our connection came.
03:56 We developed a real friendship,
03:57 but it was always apprehension
03:59 'cause other people were trying to get at her.
04:01 And then, you know, I guess Jay was trying
04:02 to get at her as well, and I didn't know.
04:05 He was sending flowers, and he was courting her.
04:07 'Cause the rumor originally was that you were connected to Jay.
04:10 Exactly. Jay and I were hanging out a lot.
04:12 He's my homie. We have a lot of fun together,
04:14 but we never dated like that.
04:15 So you have a boyfriend in your life?
04:17 It's personal life.
04:19 That's the personal life I don't really discuss.
04:21 It's hard. When you're in this business,
04:22 you become a public figure, you know what I mean?
04:24 And everything you do belongs to the public,
04:26 and that's fine, but there's parts
04:27 that you want to keep for you.
04:28 Dame knew how important Aaliyah's privacy was
04:31 because she'd been under attack
04:32 for her last relationship five years earlier.
04:35 Hip-hop star R. Kelly did indeed marry his protege,
04:38 the 15-year-old singer Aaliyah Houghton.
04:41 That was a headline.
04:42 That was something talked about like it was normal.
04:44 Did y'all ever talk about it?
04:45 We talked about it up to the point where it hurt.
04:47 As Aaliyah opened up to Dame,
04:49 he learned just how dark the relationship
04:52 with R. Kelly had been.
04:53 We were out on the road.
04:56 We were leaving.
04:59 On a tour bus, there really aren't any confined spaces.
05:02 So it just so happened we were all laying in our bunks
05:08 when the door flew open on the bus.
05:11 What did you see?
05:13 Things that an adult should not be doing with a child.
05:16 Dame would do anything to protect Aaliyah,
05:18 but his partnership with Jay put him in a difficult position.
05:22 You ever have beef with R. Kelly while he was with Aaliyah?
05:25 She just wanted it left alone.
05:26 So that's the thing that people would be like
05:28 when Jay was doing videos with him.
05:31 I was being the video, but I'd be like,
05:32 "Yo, what do you want me to do?"
05:34 And she'd be like, "Don't start nothing.
05:35 Just don't be in no shots with him."
05:38 She didn't want to deal with the bulls***.
05:39 Like the things that had happened in the past,
05:41 she told me, "Leave it alone."
05:42 I would have to respect her wish no matter what.
05:45 And her wish was, "Leave it alone.
05:47 Let me heal. Let me rest.
05:49 Let me — I'm in love. Let's just enjoy this."
05:52 As their relationship grew,
05:54 everyone around them could see
05:55 how much Dame and Aaliyah meant to each other.
05:58 You know, the thing was, she was gone a lot.
05:59 So the time that we had together,
06:01 I mean, it was like we appreciated it.
06:02 They were in heaven.
06:03 Nothing from the outside really got in their way.
06:06 And she was so happy.
06:08 She was so happy.
06:09 It was like the first kind of time
06:11 that she had found this kind of peace and happiness.
06:15 And the same thing for me.
06:16 I didn't know what being in love was.
06:18 I didn't even understand what that feeling is.
06:21 And I was able to really achieve that with her.
06:23 So now I know what it feels like.
06:25 So you were in love with her?
06:26 Yeah.
06:27 Completely.
06:28 What was your last conversation with her?
06:32 I didn't want her to do the video.
06:34 Which video?
06:35 She was shooting a video in Miami.
06:39 And I had my son and my nephews with me.
06:43 And she was very supportive.
06:45 So I was like, all right, I'm going to come down there.
06:46 I'll bring the kids, make a vacation, work the whole night.
06:50 Remember she used to babysit you?
06:51 Yeah.
06:52 I used to have a lot of fun with Aaliyah.
06:53 But when Aaliyah told Dame that she
06:55 had to fly to the Bahamas to finish the video,
06:57 he was desperate for her to stay.
07:00 I told her I didn't want her to go.
07:02 And that's kind of [BLEEP] because that
07:03 was one of the reasons why she was in such a rush
07:05 to get back.
07:06 And even when she got on the plane,
07:08 she didn't like the plane.
07:09 So like, the last one-- our last text was,
07:11 I don't like the plane.
07:12 And I literally was like, don't get on it.
07:14 I literally was like, don't get on it.
07:16 And if I'd have been an asshole that day
07:18 and really stood behind what I believed in,
07:21 she wouldn't have got on that plane.
07:23 Hollywood lost a rising star with the death
07:25 of 22-year-old R&B star Aaliyah.
07:28 Tell me about that day.
07:29 Where were you?
07:31 I was getting my hair cut.
07:33 And I was waiting for her.
07:34 She was trying to get back really quickly
07:36 because we were trying to see each other.
07:38 A small twin-engine Cessna erupted
07:41 into a fiery nosedive just minutes
07:43 after leaving the Bahamas, where Aaliyah was shooting
07:45 an upcoming music video.
07:48 Mother called.
07:50 And she said she had a--
07:56 a teammate called and said that there was a plane crash.
07:59 And we was in it.
08:00 And once I heard it, I knew it was true.
08:03 My cousins and I all heard it.
08:04 And it was like 10 of us, we was all crying down the line.
08:08 And then I saw my dad.
08:09 He was just devastated.
08:11 I actually never saw him that low.
08:13 I feel like emotionally he had hit rock bottom.
08:16 It was probably like one of the worst days we ever had.
08:20 You also said that her death--
08:22 Yeah.
08:23 --it changed you, turned you into a monster.
08:26 Yeah.
08:27 It made me fearless because I know what real pain feels like.
08:31 And I've dealt with it.
08:32 Can't be nothing worse than that.
08:34 We actually have video at her funeral
08:35 where you're very emotional.
08:37 Remember that day?
08:38 I don't revisit it often because it hurts.
08:40 But a lot was going on in that moment.
08:42 I mean, I still had to get myself together and fight
08:45 because there were things that were going on.
08:47 Dane barely had time to grieve when just five months
08:50 after Aaliyah's death, Jay-Z did the unthinkable.
08:54 Just the idea of having a whole album with myself and R. Kelly
08:59 was just an amazing prospect.
09:01 Best of both worlds tour.
09:02 It's coming to a city near you.
09:03 Best of both worlds, t-shirts, drawers, condoms, everything.
09:08 How do you deal with that when someone you respect does
09:11 [BLEEP] that you don't [BLEEP] with at all?
09:12 You got to remember--
09:14 Once I knew Aaliyah, I knew everything.
09:15 So yeah, if me and you cool and you
09:18 know that I got a girl that your man [BLEEP]
09:22 and I tell you and you like, you're
09:23 going to still work with him, what you going to feel?
09:26 So what you think I felt?
09:28 Even as new allegations came out, Jay looked the other way.
09:31 Kelly is accused of videotaping himself having
09:34 sex with an underage girl.
09:35 Prosecutors maintain the girl in the video
09:37 was as young as 13 when it was made.
09:40 I mean, I wasn't there.
09:41 You know what I'm saying?
09:41 Like, I know that.
09:42 I know I ain't have nothing to do with that.
09:44 That's crazy to me.
09:45 Your partner.
09:45 No, it's not.
09:46 Yo, he's not my partner.
09:47 Look how my partner played me.
09:48 You calling him my partner?
09:49 Publicly, that man did a record with that [BLEEP]
09:51 and that [BLEEP] my girl and then went on a tour with him.
09:54 But I had to look the other way.
09:55 And because my girl said leave it alone, I left it alone.
09:58 You left it alone.
09:59 Dame couldn't break his promise to Aliyah,
10:01 but his anger was spiraling out of control.
10:04 Rumors of a growing rift between Jay-Z and Dame Dash.
10:08 The Rockefeller CEO was caught crashing a marketing meeting
10:11 at parent company Def Jam, accusing executives
10:14 of trying to cut him out.
10:16 This is treacherous.
10:17 I'm telling you, I'm sick of this [BLEEP]..
10:20 I seen all of y'all yesterday.
10:22 Why nobody told me about a marketing plan about Jay-Z?
10:25 How do y'all call a meeting about Jay-Z without Rockefeller?
10:28 There ain't even nobody from Rockefeller in here.
10:31 We're going to reschedule, man.
10:32 What the [BLEEP] you mean you're going to reschedule?
10:34 We're going to reschedule, man.
10:35 What you mean you're going to reschedule?
10:37 You get the [BLEEP] out.
10:39 You're not a leader.
10:40 You don't know [BLEEP] about my culture.
10:41 You don't know [BLEEP] about Jay.
10:43 Dame was struggling to hold on to the one thing he had left,
10:46 so he didn't see what was coming.
10:48 They don't give a [BLEEP] because all they do is exploit.
10:51 So they trying to take our franchise from us.
10:54 You know about the Scarface party and all that?
10:57 No.
10:58 Is Jay-Z performing today?
10:59 Yeah, he's performing today.
11:02 He can stop taping.
11:05 Jay-Z is moving on from Rockefeller Records
11:07 and former partner Dame Dash as he
11:09 steps into his new role as president and CEO of Def Jam.
11:13 It's not a beef.
11:14 It's just growing.
11:15 And sometimes growing means growing apart.
11:17 It's part of life.
11:18 It's part of growing up.
11:19 You know what's crazy about that meeting?
11:21 In my heart, I had no idea that Jay set that meeting up.
11:25 But he set that meeting up.
11:26 As Jay-Z left Dame behind, people
11:28 couldn't understand why Dame was stuck in the past.
11:31 Dame is abrasive.
11:33 Dame burned a lot of bridges.
11:34 I burn bridges so I don't have to go back.
11:37 I think that Dame is bitter now because Jay-Z
11:39 is a fully megastar brand married to Beyonce.
11:43 Aaliyah is gone.
11:46 Will you please let Aaliyah rest?
11:48 Will you let her--
11:50 will you-- will you let her die?
11:52 Even as Dame tried to move on, he couldn't
11:54 let go of his pain over Aaliyah.
11:57 Everything that scared me is losing people I love.
11:59 And everyone that I really love, I've lost.
12:03 So what it's made me be the animal that I am
12:06 is that I don't want to sit down and think about the things
12:08 that are hurting me.
12:10 Your secrets are about things you don't express to people.
12:13 When it comes to feelings, you don't
12:16 get to go around the feelings.
12:17 You have to go through them.
12:19 Question is how?
12:20 When an explosive documentary exposed R. Kelly,
12:23 Dame came face to face with the pain he'd been holding back.
12:27 Allegations made by more than a dozen women
12:29 in the surviving R. Kelly docuseries
12:31 accusing the singer of holding them captive,
12:33 brainwashing them.
12:34 Prosecutors say three of his alleged victims were minors.
12:38 I'm not-- I can't really talk about being abused.
12:41 It's like-- it brings back memories.
12:43 And it's-- it's very painful to have to talk about it again.
12:49 I wish that Aaliyah's family would speak
12:51 because I think there are so many young Black girls who've
12:57 been hurt.
12:58 But what it would mean to know that Aaliyah
13:02 was hurt that way too.
13:05 I can't stress to you enough how people are still suffering
13:10 behind things that went on 20 years ago.
13:14 You know, I watched some of it yesterday,
13:19 as much as I can tolerate.
13:21 There was a girl, and when she was even trying to talk about
13:25 it, she couldn't.
13:27 Yeah.
13:28 And I remember Aaliyah trying to talk about it,
13:31 and she couldn't.
13:32 Executive producer of surviving R. Kelly, Dream Hampton,
13:36 says the music industry is still protecting the R&B star.
13:39 It was incredibly difficult to get
13:41 people who had collaborated with Kelly to come forward.
13:44 We asked Lady Gaga.
13:45 We asked Celine Dion.
13:47 We asked Jay-Z.
13:48 Everyone keeps looking the other way, period.
13:50 Everyone has all these moral principles,
13:52 but when it behooves them, they look the other way.
13:54 And I'm not cool with that.
13:55 The test of honor isn't convenient.
13:56 Honor is when it's inconvenient.
13:58 And this time, Dame had to face his pain
14:01 so he could do what was right.
14:02 It's time for us to take responsibility for empowering
14:07 and looking the other way all those years.
14:09 Aaliyah's former boyfriend, Damon Dash,
14:11 is one of the first celebrities to publicly speak out
14:14 against R. Kelly.
14:16 People would have protected Aaliyah.
14:18 So many other girls wouldn't have got touched.
14:20 Aaliyah was like the sacrificial lamb for all that
14:22 because she didn't deserve none of that.
14:24 So this energy isn't anger.
14:25 This is energy for change.
14:27 I want to change the way we look at rehabilitation
14:31 from trauma, which is a prison.
14:33 I want to change the way we heal.
14:35 After 20 years, Dame's fight for Aaliyah finally got justice.
14:40 Singer R. Kelly, sentenced to 30 years behind bars
14:43 after his conviction on racketeering and sex
14:45 trafficking charges.
14:47 This is a significant outcome for all victims of R. Kelly
14:50 and especially for the survivors.
14:52 By remembering Aaliyah's lessons,
14:54 Dame built the legacy that mattered most to him.
14:57 What do you want to be remembered as, man?
14:59 As a warrior, I fight for what I love.
15:02 Dame Dash is launching his own streaming platform
15:05 focused on health and healing.
15:07 And the entrepreneur is also expecting a new baby
15:09 with fiancé Raquel Horn.
15:13 I saw all the things I was missing.
15:14 So what do you think I'd rather do, be on a yacht
15:16 pouring champagne or a girl or taking my daughter
15:18 to get a cupcake?
15:20 It's nothing better than taking your daughter
15:21 to get a cupcake.
15:23 There's nothing better than watching your baby smile.
15:25 With his family by his side, Dame
15:27 honors Aaliyah's memory every day.
15:29 There hasn't been one day since she's passed, not one.
15:32 In the 20 years that I haven't either heard her name,
15:35 heard her record, or seen a picture of her,
15:36 every single day she's present in my life.
15:38 And I feel lucky for that.
15:39 Every year the legend grows.
15:41 And you are a part of that legend.
15:43 What do you think that people should remember about her?
15:47 She was just-- she was the coolest.
15:51 She still is.
15:52 She's magic.
15:52 I never thought I'd see that magic again.
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