Irv Gotti became a trending Twitter topic on Monday (December 4) as rumors of Ashanti’s pregnancy ran rampant. Fans believe Nelly and Ashanti are having their first child together after a video of him rubbing her tummy over the weekend went viral.
Coupled with US Weekly‘s purported confirmation—which included a source saying, “Nelly and Ashanti are welcoming their first baby together”—it provided the perfect opportunity to troll Gotti, who once suggested he had a romantic relationship with her.
Gotti, who founded Murder Inc. Records in 1997, signed Ashanti in 2001, but she ultimately wound up leaving. In an August 2022 Drink Champs interview, Gotti talked extensively about Ashanti and seemed to double down on dating her. However, not long after, she shut the notion down, telling Angie Martinez at the time, “Let’s clear this up. 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.”
Fed up with all of the chatter, Gotti addressed his Drinks Champs comments on The Shade Room‘s Instagram account after he was asked why he kept talking about her.
“Cause that’s why—you askin’ me,” he replied. “Did I bring Ashanti up? You did it. Here’s what I’m going to say. I wish Ashanti nothing but the best. I’m not hooked on her, like ‘I can’t get over her.’ It’s none of that s###.”
He added, “I got paid to do a documentary on my life and on Murder Inc. If I didn’t talk about Ashanti, you would have been like what kind of b####### is this that he didn’t speak about her. She’s too important to Murder Inc. and his life. They tried to #MeToo me. You know what the f### they said. Stop it Shade Room. You the shadiest ones.”
Still, Gotti was accused of being obsessed with her, and the baby bump rumors were all it took to drag him right back into it. The memes, of course, have erupted online.
Check out some of the best below.
Irv Gotti finding out Ashanti pregnant pic.twitter.com/xUMRfuJLo2
— Jay 🦻🏿💪🏾 (@oldblackking) December 4, 2023
Irv Gotti trying to get into Nelly and Ashanti’s baby shower pic.twitter.com/S4Ug7C1ixx
— Dark Skinned Patrick Mahomes (@mroliverkc) December 4, 2023
Irv Gotti after reading Ashanti is pregnant with Nelly’s child pic.twitter.com/NKPuZipI1L
— EP (@epark1016) December 4, 2023
Irv Gotti hearing Ashanti is pregnant by Nelly: pic.twitter.com/iFGxeeGm54
— ✨👑 DaddyMO👑✨🏁 (@therealdaddymo1) December 4, 2023
Irv Gotti gotta be in his living room spiraling outta control now that Nelly got Ashanti pregnant pic.twitter.com/bCDuB6Xo34
— The West God. (@TheWestGod) December 4, 2023
Irv Gotti when he got the Ashanti news pic.twitter.com/p2KucsCzY4
— 😎Shay-Boogie🤙🏾 (@HeartBreakSeun) December 4, 2023
Irv Gotti after hearing the news about Ashanti’s pregnancy : pic.twitter.com/xAjlOobWeG
— 𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤 💛 (@jessmcmxci) December 4, 2023
“Yo Irv… You good bro?”
Irv Gotti: pic.twitter.com/hkgOaAM8uD
— The Thumb Thespian (@BishopCognac) December 4, 2023