“[He’s] Lied About a Lot of Things:” Ashanti Breaks Her Silence on Irv Gotti

While on Angie Martinez podcast IRL, Ashanti responded to Irv Gotti’s allegations that the two were once in a relationship.

Ashanti is clapping back on Irv Gotti‘s allegations that the two were once romantically involved. The R&B singer went to Angie Martinez podcast IRL where she gave her side of the story, one month after Irv alleged on Drink Champs that he dated Ashanti in the early 2000s.

At the 7-minute mark of the interview, the singer, whose real name is Ashanti Douglas, shared that she did not want to appear in BET docuseries The Murder Inc Story.

“I think the world can see why,” she told Martinez. “They definitely reached out. It’s a lot to consume. For the record, I love Murder Inc., you know, all the guys. I’m cool with everyone, it’s all love. It’s very unfortunate how Irv decided to handle his documentary.”

Across five episodes, Douglas’ legacy was reduced to archival footage which she said “tarnished and cheapened the brand.”

After saying that she’s only seen a “little bit” of the series, the “Foolish” singer confirmed that she saw clips of Irv’s notorious Drink Champs interview.

“My phone was going crazy, texts from exes and everything,” she laughed. “It wasn’t surprising to me, to an extent, because I’ve accepted a long time ago that that’s the person that he is. But now the world is seeing… I feel like Irv is mentally not in a good place, you know?”

Describing the Murder Inc. Records co-founder as “selfish” and “narcissistic,” Douglas said that Irv might have exaggerated their relationship.

“Irv has flat-out lied about a lot of things,” she said at the 14:40 mark. “The crazy thing is, like, when we were in a good space, a positive space, pillow talk is a dangerous thing.”

The singer added that while she didn’t want to “expose” anything, Irv is disgrunted because he can no longer “control” her.

“I hate when he tells a story about, ‘Ashanti’s not loyal, and she didn’t support during the trial,’” she said. “Clearly you see me at the trial. Clearly you see me on every single newspaper. I was shooting John Tucker Must Die in Canada… and legally, in my contract, I was not allowed to leave the country. I left, like, three, four times. We weren’t even speaking at that time. But I left, because I was supportive.”

As Irv mentioned in his Drink Champs episode with Ja Rule, Douglas said he was “salty” when she began dating Nelly, forbidding her to come to the recording studio.

“Irv was telling everyone not to record with me,” she said. “How can I stay in that situation? You know what he said to me? ‘Nah, you want to be with Nelly, go sign to Derrty ENT, we don’t want you.’ What am I supposed to do?”

Watch the full In Real Life interview below.