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Irv Gotti Claims He Made Ashanti: 'She Has Not Made a Hit Since'
Irv Gotti is taking credit for putting Ashanti on.
Just days after he shared intimate details about his relationship with the singer, the Murder Inc. boss is now laying claim to her career.
Speaking with Page Six, Gotti said he felt betrayed when Ashanti cut ties with Murder Inc. after the feds raided the label’s offices in 2003. Gotti was accused of laundering $1 million for Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, but was exonerated.
“When the feds hit, she ran like the cockroaches when you turn the lights on,” recalled Gotti, who says he is responsible for making Ashanti the star she is today.
“She was ready to get the f**k off of the Murder Inc. label and she was ready to abandon me, the person who made her. And yes I can say I made her,” he said.
Ashanti signed to Murder Inc. in 2002 where she released her self-titled debut album, which spawned hits including “Foolish,” “Baby,” and “Happy,” which Gotti claims he came up with after they slept together.
According to Gotti, her career has never been the same since she left Murder Inc. “How do you know I can say that firmly? The minute I stop making her records . . . She has not made a hit since.”
Gotti detailed their relationship in an explosive interview with “Drink Champs,” saying they were together “every day for like two years.”
#PressPlay: Oop! #IrvGotti had quite a lot to say during a recent Drink Champs episode with #JaRule! He explains that #Ashanti’s hit song “Happy” came about after the two had sex. At one point Irv even claims that his relationship with Ashanti “helped her.” (🎥: @drinkchamps pic.twitter.com/ZoE5lvqY6F
— Theeshaderoomed (@Theeshaderoomed) August 7, 2022
The producers of his new BET documentary, “The Murder Inc. Story,” reached out to Ashanti to participate, but she reportedly refused. “She’s never going to do that because she’s never going to say she was in love with me. She’s never gonna say we was together,” he said.
He also denied claims that he never got over their breakup. “I’m way past that,” he said. “I’m Dr. Dre, been there, done that, and the chick sitting next to me, I don’t want to say crushing her, but she’s in her 20s and ridiculously hot.”
Last year, Ashanti announced plans to re-record her debut and re-release it independently on her own label, which angered Gotti.
“I own all those great Ashanti albums,” he told Angie Martinez. “What she is trying to do is re-record all those great records. And put them out on her label. She can do this under the COVER laws. But she is basically trying to f**k me out of my masters.”