For months, there’s been so much mystery swirling around Ashanti’s surprise pregnancy, and it hasn’t been helped by the recent controversies surrounding her husband Nelly.
Since Nelly’s arrest, the newest rumor was that she had actually already had her baby.
The story started trending shortly after Nelly was arrested on charges of substance possession a couple of weeks ago.
When news of the arrest started to spread, fans were concerned about how the stress of it all would impact Ashanti’s pregnancy.
Ashanti Confirmed Birth of Baby Boy
But according to some outlets, some fans even started to ask, “Did Ashanti have her baby yet?”
The rumor was supposedly going round that Ashanti had actually given birth to a baby boy last month.
While this seemed like a pretty wild take, she finally confirmed that it was, in fact, true.
Ashanti first shared the news on her Instagram, and a rep later revealed the gender and name of the baby.
Ashanti Speaks Out On Motherhood
In what seems to be a brand deal with Frida Baby, Ashanti shared a carousel promoting their shorts.
In a video, she said “Four weeks postpartum- you have no idea what this body can do.”
And in the caption, she wrote:
“Funny how life’s plans aren’t…always on time.. lol. I’ve been waiting to be a mom for a long time now but nothing could prepare me for EVERYTHING motherhood brings! This is what postpartum looks like. I’m loving these super cozy @fridamom shorts! I’m so proud of my body for giving me my baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.”
Shortly after the Instagram post, a rep for Ashanti and Nelly confirmed the news and provided details about the baby’s birth.
When Was Ashanti And Nelly’s Baby Born?
The rep revealed that Ashanti had given birth to a baby boy, named Kareem Kenkaide Hayes.
The baby boy was born on July 18, 2024, just five days after Ashanti’s mom’s birthday party that Ashanti had shared pictures of just hours after Nelly’s arrest earlier this month.
The day of the baby’s birth makes Nelly’s arrest all the more shocking.
Nelly was arrested on August 8, 2024, just 21 days after baby Kareem was born.
Nelly And Ashanti’s Alleged Relationship Issues
You can’t help but wonder if they were keeping the birth a secret because of all of the alleged issues surrounding their relationship.
After all, there has been so much about Nelly and Ashanti’s relationship recently that’s been shrouded in secrecy.
And the news that Ashanti had given birth and not told anybody is just the latest mystery about the couple in the last few months.
They didn’t announce that they had gotten married for many months after their secret ceremony.
It was so secret that fans started to discuss whether it would ever really happen after the couple had already tied the knot.
In November of last year, a short while after Ashanti surprised Nelly for his birthday, one fan commented that it was “obvious” how much she loved the rapper.
They went on to remark on just how long they had been in each others’ lives, having first gotten together over 20 years ago.
The fan went on to discuss how Ashanti has previously been open about how much she wants marriage to be a part of her life.
In fact, the conversation soon became pretty critical of Nelly for failing to give Ashanti what she obviously wanted.
The fan wrote that the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to propose showed a lack of commitment.
Others agreed, writing that Nelly just wasn’t marriage material and was fully aware of the fact.
Fans Speak Out On Nelly And Ashanti’s Relationship
It was also suggested that the reason the couple have shown themselves to be so happy together again was down to nostalgia.
One fan suggested that they were in a kind of honeymoon stage because they were back together after years apart, which made it feel deeper than their first time around.
However, the fan, and many others, expected those feelings to wear off once Nelly realized that Ashanti wanted to take things to the next level.
Other people, however, seemed to think that it was the other way around, and Ashanti was really the one who was keeping the couple from being husband and wife.
One person wrote, “Apparently Nelly has been trying for a while to get back together, and even had discussions about marriage.”
They continued to say that every time the subject came up, Ashanti would change the topic or ghost Nelly.
Obviously, it was pretty much impossible to really know what was going on between the couple from the outside.
The Truth About Nelly And Ashanti’s Secret Marriage & Pregnancy
It later emerged that the pair had already in fact been married for quite a long time and simply didn’t bother to tell us.
Media outlets got hold of public documents that proved the couple have been married since last December.
Not only that, but we also learned that the couple were expecting their first child.
A couple of months ago, Ashanti posted some new photos on Instagram to celebrate her pregnancy.
The photos showed her lying on a beach in a gold bikini.
In the caption of the post, she wrote that her impending motherhood was “the greatest feeling ever.”
Nelly and Ashanti had previously announced both their pregnancy and that they were engaged in April of this year.
But fans had no idea that they had already taken the final step and tied the knot in private.
This just goes to show that the couple are more than capable of keeping a secret.
So the rumor that Ashanti had already had the baby proved more popular than many would’ve expected.
And now, it’s finally been confirmed that she was hiding the baby’s birth for weeks.
Fan’s Theory Why Nelly And Ashanti Are So Secretive
But why have the couple been so eager to keep us out of the loop on their relationship milestones?
One potential fan theory about why has thrown everything about their true relationship into question.
It’s been suggested that Nelly only decided to share the news of his marriage to Ashanti to deflect attention away from a bombshell allegation that had started spreading about him.
YouTuber Tasha K had accused Nelly of fathering a secret child while cheating on his former partner, Shantel Jackson.
Tasha K claimed that Nelly had a fling with a life coach named Shanna Bianca a few years ago.
In 2020, Shanna allegedly became pregnant with Nelly’s son, named Chase.
While this was just a rumor, suspicions around it were raised due to the timing of the allegation.
Tasha K made her claims on the very same day that Nelly announced that he and Ashanti were now husband and wife.
So did Nelly share his news to distract fans from what was being said about him?
This theory has left many devastated fans feeling sorry for Ashanti, who has waited decades to finally settle down with Nelly.
Ashanti Opened Up About Relationship With Nelly
Despite numerous rumors of other relationships, Ashanti’s relationship with Nelly is the only one the public knows the singer took seriously.
They split up in 2013 after over ten years together on and off.
Many were delighted that they went on to get back together, including Ashanti herself.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ashanti opened up about the aftermath of their initial breakup in 2013.
She said that she didn’t think they would ever have a conversation again after they split.
So for the couple to not only reunite but eventually become pregnant must have meant the world to her.
Since becoming pregnant, Ashanti has been much more open about what’s going on than her husband.
In her interview, she gave fans a hint as to when we can expect her baby to be born.
She promised that although they were already married, the couple were going to have another big, public celebration sometime in the future.
But she said at the time that they would wait until she’d had her baby first.
She explained that this was because she wanted to look as good as possible when she walked down the aisle again.
But now that it’s been confirmed that the couple’s baby has already been born, their plans must have changed.
Nelly and Ashanti’s Reality Show
There have also been rumors that the birth and the couple’s big wedding celebrations will play a major part in their upcoming reality show.
Last month, multiple outlets reported that Nelly and Ashanti will be hitting the small screen in a show about their relationship and growing family.
The reports about a reality series were first shared by The Jasmine Brand on their Instagram.
And some insiders close to the couple have shared some of the first details we’ve learned about the show.
It was reported that sources had confirmed the show is set to start filming in St. Louis, Nelly’s hometown.
Surely, the show will also show us more details about Ashanti’s pregnancy journey too.
But whether or not we’ll see her reaction to Nelly’s latest arrest remains to be seen.
