Irv Gotti Says Ashanti ‘Ran Like Cockroaches’ When He Was Arrested for Money Laundering
Irv Gotti continues to blast Ashanti while promoting his new Murder Inc. documentary, now claiming the singer abandoned ship when legal issues hit the label.
On Tuesday (Aug. 9), PageSix ran an interview with the famed music exec where he continued to speak about his frayed relationship with Ashanti. During the interview, Irv claimed Ashanti skedaddled after the label was raided by the federal government in 2003 and ultimately charged with money laundering in 2005.
“When the feds hit, she ran like the cockroaches when you turn the lights on,” Gotti relayed to the publication.
“She was ready to get the f uck off of the Murder Inc. label and she was ready to abandon me, the person who made her," Irv continued. "And yes I can say I made her. How do you know I can say that firmly? The minute I stop making her records . . . She has not made a hit since.”
It's worth noting that Ashanti released two more projects on Murder Inc. after the Irv and his brother Chris were acquitted in December of 2005: Collectables by Ashanti (2005) and The Declaration (2008) via the rebranded label, The Inc. She would part ways with the label in 2009, when she released her The Vault compilation on AJM Records.
Irv Gotti opened a can of worms last week when he went on the Drink Champs podcast and opened up about his alleged 20-year-old extramarital affair with Ashanti in detail. Apparently bitter that Ashanti is now re-recording her Murder Inc. albums in order to gain control of her masters, Irv lamented how he found out she'd moved on to dating Nelly in 2003 and recounted a story of her recording "Happy" after she and Irv had sex.
Irv has been catching heat for the interview. Fat Joe called him a sucker for spilling tea about his relationship with Ashanti 20 years later. Irv responded by saying he is no longer friends with the Terror Squad head honcho because of his comments.
Ashanti has yet to comment publicly on the fiasco created by Irv, who appears unapologetic.
"The one thing you gotta know about me, I am cool in my gangster," Irv said in a recent radio interview on 97.9 The Box in Houston. "I am cool with who I am as a person. That gives me the ability to talk about things that the normal person won't talk about. I don't care. It's my truth. It's my life. It's my story. This is what happened."
Irv Gotti's five-part Murder Inc. documentary premiered on Tuesday on BET.