Less than two months after he was blasted online for performing at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, rapper Nelly is back in the hot seat – and this time the criticism is centered around his kids. The “Air Force Ones” rapper, who is a father of five children between the ages of 31 and 8 months – including a niece and nephew he adopted after his sister passed away in March 2005 – said that when it comes to his parenting style, the rules are different for his sons and his daughters.
In a recent appearance on the “Drink Champs” podcast, Nelly said that if his now-31-year-old daughter found herself in trouble, there’s always room for her at home.
“I f’d up ‘cause I told my daughter, ‘Yeah, baby, don’t worry about it. You can always come home. You always got a room,” he told the hosts.
But if one of his sons found themselves needing to rely on him for a place to stay, the accommodations wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable.
“My son, he can come home, but he get the couch. Eventually, he gotta get the f*k out. He got to. He a man. You got to go. You can always come home. Sometimes when s*t don’t work out, I ain’t knocking that ’cause you gotta get back up on your feet. But just know, n*ga, this is temporary,” he said.
Although lots of people took the opportunity to call Nelly out on social media for laying out what they believed to be a ridiculous double standard, some came to his defense saying that he has the right to make the rules in his home, even if others don’t agree.
“He’s the father & those are his rules. Nothing wrong with that,” wrote someone on X.
Other parents said their doors are always open for their kids, regardless of their gender.
“My kids can stay with me as long as they need to get on their feet. As long as they are either working or in school. And they will have the same chores they had when they were kids.” another commenter wrote.
But one commenter put the responsibility on the parents, arguing that if we train them up in the way they should go, your kids will never look back..
“The way some treat their black boys…smh if u have done your job well as a father your boys won’t need to come crash on the couch,” they wrote.