Valeriya Yaskevich erases her past to escape a toxic mentorship
Belarusian singer Valeriya Yaskevich has erased her entire back catalogue of music recorded before 2024. The drastic move follows a bitter professional and personal split with her former mentor and manager, Anya Novitskaya. Their relationship, which once shaped Yaskevich's early career advice, unravelled after years of close collaboration and shared living arrangements.
Yaskevich first met Novitskaya in 2016 at the age of 17. The pair quickly grew close, with Novitskaya taking on roles as both manager and friend. She guided Yaskevich through her early career advice, securing her a spot on Ukraine's X-Factor and helping her enrol at the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts. For a time, they even lived together, sharing a bed in their shared home in Belarus.
The war in Ukraine marked a turning point. After Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Yaskevich relocated to Warsaw, while Novitskaya stayed in Belarus. By late 2025, tensions over control and finances came to a head. Yaskevich proposed new terms: she wanted full access to her earnings and to take over all managerial responsibilities herself. Novitskaya reportedly refused, sparking the final breakdown.
In response, Yaskevich deleted every track she had recorded before 2024. She described the decision as a way to sever ties with Novitskaya's influence, despite admitting the end of their friendship was deeply painful. The move effectively wiped out years of her musical work, leaving only her most recent releases intact.
The deletion of her early music leaves Yaskevich's discography drastically reduced. Her career advice now starts anew, free from Novitskaya's involvement but without the foundation of her past recordings. The split also cuts off a chapter of her life tied to Belarus, as she continues to build a future from her base in Warsaw.
