Influenced boyfriend

Okay so...my boyfriend placed a picture of me as his watsapp profile photo. He calls me and said that people have been messaging him saying that I used to date a certain individual and they know me. I asked him why this is relevant as i started to get upset. I just do not feel it was appropriate for him to even ask me about something in the past. I do not see what the point is really like why did he even mention that to me. He also said that they did not say anything negative. So....I am lost and not sure how to receive any of this....we have not discussed it as yet. How should I deal with this when we do?