Ashanti has broken her silence on Irv Gotti’s infamous comments about their past dealings.
The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter sat down with radio personality Angie Martinez for an interview released Wednesday on the “Angie Martinez IRL podcast.”
Ashanti talked about getting into acting, landing a record deal at age 14, and being “let down” by certain people.
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At the 7:00 mark, Martinez asked Ashanti why she decided not to participate in the recent Murder Inc. Records documentary series on BET.
“I think the world can see why,” Ashanti said in an apparent reference to Gotti’s comments about her. “They definitely reached out. It’s a lot to consume. For the record, I love Murder Inc., all the guys. I’m cool with everyone, it’s all love. It’s very unfortunate how Irv decided to handle his documentary.”
[Watch the video below]
Back in August, 52-year-old Gotti boasted on the “Drink Champs” podcast about having an alleged extramarital affair with Ashanti when he signed her to Murder Inc. in 2002. A drunken Gotti claimed he bought her “mad gifts,” and her hit single “Happy” was written right after the two made love.
“There wasn’t no shame for us being together. She wasn’t responsible for my divorce,” he said. Ja Rule was sitting next to Gotti in the interview and said, “I don’t know about none of this.”
Ashanti, 42, told Martinez she was disappointed by the Murder Inc. co-founder’s behavior.
“It’s a little sad to see a grown man conduct himself in that manner. I feel like the Murder Inc. legacy is so much bigger,” she said. “We accomplished so much and made amazing history, and I feel like the way that he handled it tarnished and it cheapened the brand. We all worked so hard.”
She added, “That’s so selfish and it’s so degrading.”
Ashanti noted that she’s only seen a “little bit” of the BET docuseries, but said she “absolutely” heard part of Gotti’s “Drink Champs” interview. While she was bothered by his comments, she told Martinez something positive came out of it.
“I genuinely got a chance to see how much people love me. I genuinely got a chance to see people that I may not talk to every day reached out,” she explained. “I’ve seen people defend me. I’ve seen people that I don’t know defend me and that says a lot.”
At one point in the interview, Ashanti said Gotti was controlling and used to brag about “making her.”
“I made you f—kable,” she said he told her.
She also addressed his claims about the nature of their relationship.
“Let’s clear this up,” said Ashanti. “Was I his girlfriend? Never… Irv had several girlfriends, so I’m a little confused by the label and the description.”
She added that he made it into something that it wasn’t.
“Irv has flat-out lied about a lot of things,” Ashanti said. “It’s weird. It’s very weird when you know you’re lying and you just keep lying. That’s where it becomes a little scary and a little mental.”
She also questioned his character.
“It wasn’t surprising to me, to an extent, because I’ve accepted a long time ago that that’s the person he is,” she said. “When someone is in pain, they kind of act out of character. I see a lot of feminine qualities. I think a lot of the pain is from not wanting to let go.”
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