Irv Gotti made an outrageous claim about dating Ashanti while they were both in relationships. It all started when Irv and Ja Rule went on the Drink Champs podcast a couple of years ago.
Irv claimed that he had an affair with Ashanti 20 years ago. He also said that he was married to his first wife, Debbie Lorenzo, at the time of the alleged affair.
He went on to admit that Ashanti had already gotten into a relationship with rap star Nelly at the time. Irv said that he and Ashanti were together “every day” that she wasn’t with Nelly. He also claimed to have come up with Ashanti’s 2002 hit song Happy after they shared an evening together.
Irv went on to discuss what their relationship was like these days. He said that they “didn’t see eye to eye” anymore.
Immediately after Irv shared these revelations, Ashanti came out with a very different story. In conversation with Angie Martinez on her IRL podcast, she quickly shut down any talk of Irv ever being her boyfriend.
She repeatedly stated that that was never the case and that Irv just flat-out lied about so many things. Ashanti said Irv had several girlfriends while separating from Debbie, but she was never one of them. She went on to add that Irv was “salty” when he found out about her dating Nelly.
Then, she made some huge claims of her own. Ashanti recalled Irv reacting to the news about her and Nelly by attempting to block her career from progressing. Allegedly, he told people not to record with her and stopped her from coming to the studio.
Ashanti’s Friend Didn’t Defend Her
This back-and-forth caught the attention of a lot of hip-hop fans. Another detail that drew a lot of commentary was the fact that Ja Rule listened to Irv’s claims without defending Ashanti.
The friendship between Ashanti and Ja Rule has been common knowledge for years, even leading to rumors about a romantic relationship between the two artists. This is mainly due to the huge success the pair have found collaborating on music together.
They have always been open about their close friendship, but both have denied ever being a couple. The fact that they’ve always been so close is why Ja Rule was criticized for failing to stand up for Ashanti to Irv.
He claimed not to have known that any of this was going on between Irv and Ashanti. However, he did call Irv out at one point when he referred to Ashanti with a disrespectful expletive. A lot of people felt that Ja Rule should have done a lot more, including Ashanti herself.
On the IRL podcast, she told Angie that she spoke to Ja Rule after the podcast. While she was “grateful” that he had defended her, she also told him that she felt he didn’t defend her enough.
Someone else who thought so was Fat Joe. He took to Instagram Live to say that Irv had been disrespectful in his ranting about Ashanti. He went on to say that whatever happened was done 20 years ago, and this just made Irv look like he wasn’t over her.
What’s even crazier is that Joe didn’t just call out Irv. He also slammed Ja Rule for failing to defend Ashanti.
Ashanti Allegedly Had an Affair
Ja Rule has since responded by insisting that he did stick up for her. Later, he took to Instagram to make it clear that he did not condone what Irv said on the podcast. He hoped that people understood how uncomfortable it felt to be put in the position he was now in.
So much of what we know about Ashanti’s partners has been speculation and gossip. It was also claimed that she had an affair with rapper Andre Parker between 2003 and 2005.
RELATED: Exposing the Sad Truth About Nelly and Ashanti
Madame Noire reported in 2013 that the two had a relationship despite both being involved with other people. At the time, Ashanti was dating Nelly and Andre was with Keyshia Cole, who Ashanti co-wrote the song Woman to Woman with.
The speculation about Ashanti continued for years after she ended things with Nelly. During an appearance on The Breakfast Club, she had to deny rumors that she was dating wide receiver DeSean Jackson. However, she did admit that she had recently attended a match with him.
Another footballer who was linked to Ashanti around the same time was Darnell Dockett. After she tweeted to wish him a happy birthday in 2015, many took this as confirmation of their relationship. However, if they ever really were dating, it didn’t last past 2016.
Irv’s Record Label Was Raided by Federal Agents
That whole time, Irv never said anything about any affair he had with Ashanti. It took until his 2022 appearance on Drink Champs for his wild claims to get air time.
Irv signed Ashanti to his record label in 2001. The label went on to reach its peak between 2001 and 2003. As well as Ashanti’s incredibly successful first album, Ja Rule released Pain is Love with the label, which was just as popular.
The two artists also started making a lot of songs together. To date, they’ve made at least 10 tracks together, including classics like Mesmerize and Wonderful. Then everything came crashing down.
On January 3, 2003, the label’s office was raided by federal agents. Irv and his brother, Chris Gotti, became the subjects of a two-year-long legal case, as they were accused of running the label as a money laundering scheme for the infamous gangster Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. The case racked up some insane costs, with Irv spending as much as $10 million in legal fees.
During the trial, the label did not distribute any music, and the business suffered. However, other scandals began bubbling up that would start to have a negative effect on the label and its artists.
In 2009, Ashanti was released from her contract to make music independently. At one point on the Drink Champs podcast, Irv opened up about how he felt when he was told she was leaving his label.
According to Irv, Ashanti told him she didn’t want to do it anymore. Irv said that this “cut him deep,” as he believed he was the one who first gave Ashanti a chance. It might have been that the federal charges the label was facing at the time scared Ashanti into leaving.
Ashanti Has Moved on With Nelly
It’s unknown what Ashanti and Irv’s relationship is like these days. Since he made his comments on the podcast, Ashanti has had to spend a lot of time denying the rumors of a romance between the pair.
On the other hand, the singer’s romance with Nelly has been rekindled for a while now. In recent months, the couple have been very public about getting back together.
RELATED: Ashanti Announces Pregnancy and Engagement
The two of them appear to be all loved up again. Fans were devastated when they appeared to call it quits back in 2013. It would be a long time before we were treated to Nelly and Ashanti sharing a stage once again.
They were reunited for Fat Joe and Ja Rule’s Verzuz battle in 2021. It wasn’t long before gossip of a potential rekindling of their romance started to swirl. The following year, Ashanti even let us know that they were in a much better place during an interview.
Soon, they were spotted out and about together several times. It wasn’t long before they went public, saying that they had gotten back together.
Currently, Ashanti is actually pregnant. So she will probably be hoping that Irv has less to say about her relationship with Nelly this time around.
