Who is Ashanti dating now? Singer opens up about her relationship with her former boss Irv Gotti
OLD WESTBURY, NEW YORK: Ashanti is finally speaking up about her 'connection' with Irv Gotti. She claims the CEO of Murder Inc and her former boss lied repeatedly about their alleged affair. Thanks to Gotti's lewd remarks on Drink Champs in August, which prompted condemnation from Ja Rule, Fat Joe, and others, the relationship between Ashanti and Gotti has been the talk of the town again in recent months.
The 'Foolish' singer has now given her side of the tale and cleared the air about her and Gotti's dealings in a direct conversation with Angie Martinez on her IRL podcast on October 26. “Let’s clear this up,” she said around the 34-minute mark about the nature of their relationship. “We’re not gonna say relationship. 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 label and the description.”
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“Me and Irv situation, you know, he would say stuff like, ‘No one wants to record with you. Nobody really f*cks with you like that,” said the singer. “He would say stuff like, ‘We gon’ keep it in the family, it’s in-house.’ On one hand, he would make it feel like family, family, family, and on the other hand, he would tell me nobody likes you. You not gon’ get beats from nobody.”
It was something that made Ashanti hesitate and question her abilities, but she would later learn that producers and musicians were interested in working with her. She didn't understand what was going on until she became an adult and learnt about the industry. “Then, you start to reflect on certain things and it’s like, ‘Oh! That’s what was going on',” she said.
At the height of Murder Inc's success in the early 2000s, Ashanti also accused Irv Gotti of "flat-out" lying about how their relationship led to a number of hit singles and albums. Irv Gotti, according to Ashanti, overstated a lot of information. Irv Gotti claimed that Ashanti's 2002 hit song "Happy" was created after they had sex, however Ashanti refuted this. After observing Ashanti and Nelly together at an NBA game in 2003, Irv Gotti learned about their relationship. Because of her connection with Nelly, Irv Gotti allegedly used his "bitterness" to purposely try and ruin Ashanti's career and even make death threats to others close to her as per Economic Times.
Following her ten-year relationship with Nelly, Ashanti has dated other well-known male superstars from the music, sports, and even Hollywood. In contrast to her prior engagement with Nelly, Ashanti's relationship with the athlete Darwell Dorket began in 2015 and lasted for no more than a year or two. In 2018, James Harden, another athlete, took center stage. They were frequently seen together and were observed showing each other unreserved affection. However, by 2019, the singer and the athlete had already parted ways, and the singer had soon found new love.
Most recently there are rumors that the stunning singer is seeing famed 'ADHD' crooner Joyner Lucas. The rumors began when the duo appeared to be fairly close in Joyner's music video for 'Fall Slowly,' which was released in 2021. Neither Joyner Lucas nor Ashanti have publicly backed up or denied the statements of the two being a couple as of yet.