It was expected that the intimate chat between Ashanti and Angie Martinez would be explosive, and boy did it deliver. Yesterday (October 25), we shared clips of the impending interview where Ashanti finally addressed Irv Gotti's recent comments about their business and personal relationship.
Gotti took to platforms and his Murder Inc documentary to detail the romance he had decades ago with the singer, and quickly, he faced backlash for the way he spoke about Ashanti.
Now, Ashanti is sharing her side of the story on Angie Martinez's podcast, IRL. The two friends revisited several pivotal moments in the singer's career, but of course, they couldn't pass up the opportunity to discuss Gotti and his comments.
This is the first time Ashanti has directly addressed Irv's remarks, and during the interview, she claimed he would tell her that no one liked her. It was suggested that this was a form of manipulation.
"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 caused Ashanti to question and doubt herself, yet, she would later hear from artists and producers that they were reaching out to work with her. It wasn't until she matured that she realized what was happening.
"Then, you start to reflect on certain things and it's like, 'Oh! That's what was going on," she said. Elsewhere, when asked about Irv's recount of their relationship, Ashanti stated that he lied about quite a bit.
Check out the full, must-watch IRL interview with Ashanti below.