Irv Gotti, who was the CEO of Murder Inc. at the turn of the century, provided the launch pad from which Ashanti and Ja Rule rocketed into musical orbit, selling millions of records.
There was tension between Ashanti and Gotti in the years since those fruitful years and leading up to Gotti’s unexpected death on Feb. 5, 2025, from a severe stroke. Some fans were displeased that Gotti kept Ashanti’s name in his mouth in the last couple of years during multiple podcast interviews.
Ashanti addressed her and Irv Gotti’s relationship
After Gotti passed away, Ashanti took some time before she made any public statements because it was a “lot to process.”
“It was a lot of different feelings and emotions, you know… and I think honestly, what I said is how I feel… I was really sad, and I’m still sad it ended like this because there was a time when things were like amazing,” Ashanti said on the Angie Martinez eponymous podcast.
Ashanti showed Irv Gotti some love
Despite Chris Gotti’s pronouncements to the contrary, Ashanti did speak positively about Irv Gotti and the music they were able to make together.
After their initial success, the two parties parted with frayed relations. In recent years, Ashanti said she wanted to reconcile their musical relationship.
“I really wanted it to happen,” Ashanti said. “… Like I said, we made history together so that is infinite… and I’m sad that the last few years we weren’t seeing eye to eye. [But] what I do know is that I tried. I do know that I extended the olive branch… I just wanted things to be cool!”
