Ashanti Responds to Irv Gotti's Comments About Her
Ashanti on Irv Gotti's Degrading Comments: "Sad to See a Grown Man Conduct Himself in That Manner"
Ashanti is finally speaking out about Irv Gotti and the comments he's made about the nature of their relationship. The "Foolish" singer's response comes months after Gotti, founder of Murder Inc. Records, released his five-part BET docuseries recounting the history of his record label — which included salacious comments about their alleged intimate moments and deserving ownership of her masters (Ashanti is currently in the process of rerecording her self-titled debut album). After staying silent and refusing to appear in Gotti's documentary, Ashanti set the record straight during her appearance on Angie Martinez's "IRL" podcast.
The episode, released on Oct. 26, features an hour-plus-long conversation between the two, much of which focuses on Ashanti addressing what her former label head said about her in episode three of his docuseries, which she's heavily discussed in. "It's very unfortunate how Irv decided to handle his documentary," Ashanti told Martinez. "It's a little sad to see a grown man conduct himself in that manner . . . The way that he handled it tarnished and cheapened the brand [of Murder Inc.]."
"It's a little sad to see a grown man conduct himself in that manner."
Neither Ashanti nor Gotti had ever publicly addressed the nature of their now-soured relationship until the Murder Inc. founder appeared on the "Drink Champs" podcast in August to promote his docuseries. There, he recalled a controversial story of the time when he first found out Ashanti and Nelly (now exes) were dating (which was also the same time he was still married to his now ex-wife, Debbie Lorenzo). "Listen, at the time it happens, any man is hurt," Gotti said on the show. "The chick you f*cking in love with is with this n*gga."
Ashanti told Martinez she "wasn't surprised" by Gotti's behaviour "because I accepted a long time ago that that's the person he is." Elaborating on that comment, Ashanti said, "I feel like Irv is mentally not in a good place." She also added that her speaking out now is not her "intentionally trying to disrespect people or going out of my way to ruin somebody." But when asked if she thinks that's what Gotti has been trying to do to her, the singer replied, "A million percent."
"We dealt with each other, but was Irv my boyfriend? Was I his girlfriend? Never."
Other parts of Ashanti's interview revealed more alleged obscene things Gotti had said to her privately. "He would say, 'N*ggas want to f*ck you because I made you look like that. I made you f*ckable,'" she claimed. Ashanti also clarified if she was ever romantically involved with Gotti. "We're not going to say relationship," she stated. "We dealt with each other, but was Irv my boyfriend? Was I his girlfriend? Never . . . Irv had several girlfriends, so I'm a little confused by the thought and the label and the description."
Of Gotti's sudden public revelations, Ashanti said she attributes them to pain "from not wanting to let go" of his "control." "I feel like when a man is losing control and he can't manipulate, dictate, or tell you what to do with your finances and control where you go and who you're with, I think that gets to a man's ego," she shared. "So then he turns to bashing and intimidation and trying to make you look bad to boost his own ego. It's just really sad. It's sad to watch that."
She continued, ". . . I think that Irv definitely has his side and his version . . . Irv has flat out lied about a lot of things, and the crazy thing is when we were in a good space like — pillow talk is a dangerous thing. There are so many things that I know . . . I don't have the desire to expose certain things. I'm happy. I'm in a different space. And I feel like I operate at a very different vibration than him — I don't play in the mud . . . I don't need to bring myself down to make someone else feel like, 'Yeah!' I don't need that."
Listen to Ashanti's conversation with Martinez in full above.
