Ever since news came out that Ashanti and Nelly broke up in 2013, there’s been speculation about why things ended between them.
The couple was always super private about their relationship and didn’t even really admit that they were actually together until after they’d split up.
Who’s To Blame For Nelly and Ashanti’s Breakup?
The public and the media took turns to blame each of them for things not working out.
The relationship was said to have ended because of all kinds of things, including commitment issues, family troubles, and a difference of opinion about having kids.
But there’s one breakup theory that has been passed around again and again throughout the years – which is that Nelly allegedly cheated on Ashanti.
It’s something that has been claimed by a number of news outlets.
Urban Belle magazine wrote that Ashanti and Nelly’s on-and-off relationship eventually came to an end thanks to alleged cheating on Nelly’s end.
Cheat Sheet also reported on how there’d been allegations of Nelly’s infidelity around the time that they broke up.
Online User Said Nelly Was a Serial Cheater
And lots of online users have taken to community forums to accuse him of being unfaithful to Ashanti, especially when whispers of their reconciliation began in 2022.
One person wrote in a Lipstick Alley thread that he was a serial cheater.
Someone else said that Nelly was known for wasting women’s time and described him as cheating trash.
A third user claimed that Ashanti wasn’t entirely blameless, and that her always wanting to be under the radar and keep things private in her relationships was her way of running.
But they added that even if she wasn’t like that, they didn’t think it would’ve stopped him from cheating.
And that very few men in the entertainment business had discipline when it came to their desires, and he was sloppy in the end.
Did Ashanti Hint At Nelly’s Cheating Allegations?
But where did people get the idea that Nelly might not have been loyal to Ashanti?
Apart from all the speculation, there’ve also been some clues which have caused people to question him.
Ashanti has dropped a few hints herself over the years.
In 2015, she was interviewed on the Meredith Vieira show, and she opened up about why the relationship didn’t work out, in a way that she’d never done before then.
Meredith confirmed with her that she and Nelly weren’t together at that point, and then she asked her guest why she thought it was difficult to trust someone in a relationship.
Ashanti said that sometimes when people had their own insecurities, it allowed them to act out of character.
She went on to share that she’d been betrayed and that she was not a big fan of people being cowards.
During one of her live performances a few years later, Ashanti was a little clearer about who it was that she’d felt betrayed by.
A report by Cheat Sheet revealed that while she was on stage in 2018, Ashanti told the audience that she’d been betrayed before, publicly.
Then a person in the crowd reportedly yelled out: “F Nelly!”
Ashanti pointed at them and simply said: “Word.”
Was Ashanti’s Song About Nelly?
The outlet claimed that was how the singer seemingly confirmed to the public that the reason their relationship ended was because of something Nelly had done to her.
Some people online speculated that Ashanti’s choice of the word ‘betray’ suggested that he’d broken her trust – something that often happens after an affair.
There was also a theory that she wrote a song about Nelly after seeing him with his new girlfriend once they broke up, per Buzzfeed.
Ashanti had a song called She Can’t on her 2014 album, Braveheart, which came out about a year after the pair were no longer together.
The lyrics included lines like: “You said there’ll be no more mistakes. Yeah, you said, you said you was sorry. It won’t happen again and you came running back.”
Nelly Said ‘… We All A Victim To That’
Someone reportedly close to Ashanti gave another sign that Nelly might’ve been the guilty party in the breakup after the news came out that the couple had spun the block.
A source told Us Weekly in 2023 that a few years ago, Ashanti never would’ve imagined reconciling with Nelly.
Even Nelly gave some cryptic information about what happened between them, and he allegedly made it sound like he’d done something that he regretted.
According to Baller Alert , Nelly did an episode of Boss Moves where he said that after being separated, he and Ashanti got to understand one another more.
He explained that everyone could be defensive sometimes in their own relationships.
Nelly shared: “We know we wrong, but we going to stand on it. But we all a victim to that.”
Did Nelly Cheat On His Ex-Girlfriend, Shantel?
It’s also been claimed that Nelly wasn’t faithful in his relationship with his last girlfriend, Shantel Jackson, who he was with for about 7 years.
The news of his alleged infidelity with her came out around the time that he was having legal trouble in the late 2010s.
In a thread that discussed whether or not Ashanti and Nelly getting back together was a good idea, some Reddit users claimed that Nelly didn’t exactly have the reputation of a saint.
One user pointed out that he’d been accused of being inappropriate with women.
Why Was Nelly Arrested?
They were referring to a series of shocking allegations that began in October 2017.
Nelly was arrested after a 22-year-old college student alleged that he’d taken advantage of her on his tour bus, per The Telegraph.
Nelly denied the accusation and said that the student was motivated by greed and vindictiveness.
The case was dropped a week later because she wouldn’t testify against him.
Her lawyer stated that she felt she could not stand up against a celebrity.
Later that year, the student sued Nelly for harm and defamation, since he’d called her accusation a lie.
In 2018, he countersued her, and they eventually ended up settling the lawsuit.
Shantel Jackson Had Nelly’s Back Amid Accusations
However, a few other women also came forward with similar accusations against the singer.
Nelly was still in a relationship with Shantel as all this went on, and TMZ reported that she made it clear that she was sticking by his side during it.
Three days after the first allegation came out, Shantel took to Instagram to share a black and white picture of her and her then boyfriend, cosying up to each other.
She wrote their zodiac signs in the caption.
TMZ claimed that she wanted to let the public know that things were good between them despite the accusations.
When the other women came forward with their allegations months later, Shantel still supported her man, but she also reportedly revealed that things weren’t perfect either.
Nelly Admitted To Consensually Being With 22-Year-Old Student
The Jasmine Brand claimed that according to police documents, Nelly admitted to consensually being with the 22-year-old student.
Which technically would’ve meant that he was unfaithful to Shantel if what he allegedly shared in the documents was true.
Another report by The Jasmine Brand revealed that she reportedly used her social media to defend Nelly against the allegations made by the women.
But she also said that Nelly wasn’t entirely blameless.
What The Online Statements Claimed
The outlet posted an online statement that they claimed she shared in early 2018.
It said that she knew he messed up and they were dealing with that in their relationship to rebuild it and find trust.
It also alleged that having to go through all of it publicly was the worst feeling ever, but that it should not open the door for false claims.
She went on to write that on the dates that the Jane Doe in the lawsuits were claiming things happened, she was at the venues and she was on the tour bus.
She added that there were women dealing with real issues of DV, and for the first time, people were listening, and there was a chance for real change.
But all of that work was discredited, and it made things harder for the survivors when people lied.
Shantel and Nelly eventually broke up a few years later in the summer of 2021.
PEOPLE reported that Shantel had told her Instagram followers that they were through when one of them had asked her if they were still together in the comments section of a post she’d shared.
She responded that they were just friends.
But the alleged infidelity that happened while they were together has been seen as a red flag by some of Lipstick Alley’s online community claiming that Nelly might be a serial cheater.
