Nearly one month after his passing, people associated with the late Irv Gotti are still reflecting on the relationship they had with the music producer and executive. The latest to do so is Ashanti, who had a long and complicated history with the founder of Murder Inc. Records.
During a recent interview with Angie Martinez on the “IRL” podcast, the “Foolish” singer was asked about the passing of Gotti and how it affected her.
Ashanti shared, “I was really sad and I’m still sad that it ended like this, because there was a time where things were just amazing. And I know my heart always just wanted peace for both of us and for us to be cordial. I wished peace for him. I prayed for him to be at peace and you just don’t really see this – it really just came out of nowhere.”
She later added, “Like I said, we made history together. That is infinite. Like, talking about my son – my son is gonna know that we made these records together! I’m sad that the last few years we weren’t seeing eye to eye. What I do know is that I tried. I do know that I extended the olive branch. I just want things to be cool.”
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This is the first time Ashanti has spoken about Gotti’s death in an interview. She previously made a post on Instagram paying tribute to the music exec, saying, “I can’t believe things ended like this….and it makes me so sad…We weren’t on the best terms the past few years but as I’ve always said, through our ups and downs I will forever be grateful for everything that you’ve done for me.”
Ashanti’s past relationship with Irv Gotti
In 2022, Gotti could not stop talking about his alleged short romantic relationship with Ashanti.
During an August 2022 appearance on “Drink Champs,” he shared the first time they allegedly got intimate with each other and also admitted that he was angry when he saw that she started dating Nelly in 2005.
He shared even more details about his alleged relationship with Ashanti during the BET docuseries, “The Murder Inc. Story.”
Gotti’s media masquerade frustrated Ashanti, leading her to say in an interview, “I definitely feel like manipulation played a heavy part into me and Irv’s situation. He would say stuff like, ‘No one wants to record with you, nobody f***s with you like that.’ On one hand, he would make it feel like family-family-family, and on the other hand, he would tell me, ‘Nobody even likes you.’ ”
That’s the last comment Ashanti publicly said about Gotti before his death this past February.
Irv Gotti died on Feb. 5, 2025. He was 54.