Joe Budden has responded to Ari Lennox after the R&B singer clapped back at his criticisms of her during a fiery Instagram Live last week.
He addressed her comments in the latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast. In a clip published Tuesday (January 23), Budden began by saying he wanted to “wrap my good sister Ari Lennox in warmth, love and prayer.
“In a[n] industry that has historically not been great to women, now is not the time for any woman out there to feel like they are under attack, unheard or not seen,” he explained. “And if I’ve ever added to that, then I want to do my best to change the trajectory.”
Budden insisted his “punching down,” days are over and vowed to “try to set a new example in 2024.”
Joe Budden Claims Ari Lennox Attempted To “Defame” Him
However, although the clip was titled “Joe Budden Apologizes to Ari Lennox,” he went on to call her “a bag of mixed nuts,” and claimed she proved him right.
He said he saw Lennox’s response to his criticism and her threats to sue him. According to Budden, Lennox “attempted to demean and defame” him, a Black man. He says she did this “while summoning the powers universally of Black women, while simultaneously bigging up a white man who fetishizes. All on Martin Luther King Day.”
He then made an analogy about the nut selection onboard an airplane.
“This chick is a bag of f#####’ mixed nuts. Mixed nuts come from everywhere,” Budden said as his co-hosts began laughing. “This b#### is all the nuts combined and I think she’s done a great job of proving the exact point that I was trying to make in the last broadcast, and we shower her with love.”
Ari Lennox slammed Joe Budden after he criticized her for airing out her frustrations with Rod Wave’s tour. She said Budden is “psychotic” and claimed the Slaughterhouse rapper was obsessed with her.