Ja Rule recently reflected on the long-standing rift between Ashanti and Irv Gotti, revealing that he once tried to help mend their relationship—but ultimately chose to step back. Appearing on the BagFuel podcast on July 10th, the rapper spoke about his deep personal ties to both artists, sharing how difficult it was to watch their falling out unfold publicly.
Gotti, the co-founder of Murder Inc., repeatedly claimed he had a romantic relationship with Ashanti during her early career. His most detailed retelling came during a 2022 interview on Drink Champs, which aired not long after Ashanti had rekindled her romance with Nelly. Ashanti strongly denied Gotti’s version of events, calling him out during an interview on Angie Martinez IRL and accusing him of spreading falsehoods.
Despite the public drama, Ashanti expressed regret following Gotti’s death in February from a hemorrhagic stroke, saying she wished their story had ended differently.
During the BagFuel interview, Ja Rule described how trying to navigate the tension between the two was emotionally taxing. Calling Ashanti his “sister” and Gotti his “brother,” he admitted that being caught in the middle wasn’t easy. “It’s just sad that my brother and my sister were arguing and going through it like that,” he said.
While he made multiple attempts to mediate, Ja ultimately decided to remove himself from the situation. “‘I’m not doing none of that shit. I’m out. Just leave me the fuck out of it. Y’all deal with it. Y’all grown,’” he recalled telling them.
Ja said everyone respected his choice to back away, and while he stands by that decision, he still wishes things had turned out differently between the two.
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