Angie Martinez has released an explosive new episode of her “IRL” podcast as she’s joined by Ashanti, who finally addressed Irv Gotti and his recent claims about the pair’s former relationship in the early ‘00s. From his interview on “Drink Champs” to the BET documentary, “The Murder Inc Story,” Irv certainly hasn’t made it a secret that he and Ashanti were once a thing, much to the surprise of fans who grew up listening to the Murder Inc artists.
In one segment of the podcast interview, Ashanti shared how Irv would allegedly tell her how she wasn’t loyal and that he was responsible for “making the world want to f** you.” She continued, “He would say, ’n***** want to f*** you because I made you look like that. I made you f***able.” Ashanti went on to say that when people are in pain, they act out of character, prompting Martinez to interject and ask whether that said pain was caused by her.
“I think a lot of the pain is from, um, not wanting to let go,” she expressed. “When you’re a man… when a man feels like he’s losing control, and you can’t manipulate, and can’t tell you what to do with your finances […] I think that gets to a man’s ego. I just think it’s really sad.”
As most will recall, Irv received a lot of backlash for speaking about his past romance with Ashanti — not just because he had brought up a relationship from two decades ago but because he had touched on it in multiple interviews.
But the record producer and label exec said the only reason he was talking about his time with Ashanti, to begin with, was mainly because he had touched on it in his BET documentary, and if interviewers were going to bring it up, Irv didn’t feel the need to brush the subject off. After all, he was simply answering questions that were asked to him pertaining to the BET special.
“It’s my life. They paid me a bunch of money to talk about my life at Murder Inc. and I caught all this flack because of it,” Irv went on to tell Essence after receiving a lot of backlash on social media. “It’s my life. I’m not a lying type person. I wish Ashanti all the best. If you’re watching Ashanti, I wish you all the best. But I just told my truth.”
One of the most controversial parts in Irv’s interview on “Drink Champs” was when he recalled how he came up with Ashanti’s hit single, “Happy,” saying the idea came to him right after having sexual intercourse with the singer.
“Let me explain the relationship and how it worked, and how it worked to our advantage,” he told host N.O.R.E. “We just finished sleeping together, or whatever, I’m taking a shower. I’m in the shower, a nigga be creative after [sex]. I think of the whole track in the shower.”