Fat Joe Jokingly Says He Wants 10 Percent of Nelly and Ashanti's Baby Since He Reunited Them

Fat Joe’s taking the credit for Ashanti and Nelly’s reunion.

During a live chat with fans, the Bronx rapper explained that his 2021 Verzuz with Ja Rule was the catalyst for the couple’s revived romance.

“They look so happily ever after,” Fat Joe said. He also explained that Ashanti and Nelly recently FaceTimed him, and he brought up her rumored pregnancy.

“I immediately tell them I need 10 percent of this kid because if it wasn’t for Verzuz that I brought Nelly out [during] me against Ja Rule,” Fat Joe said. "That’s when they saw each other and that energy connected again. That’s when he said I gotta have her.”

He continued, “He was over there contemplating; he really wanted to go over there.” He then shared that a member of his crew urged Nelly to talk to Ashanti. “He goes over there, and that starts the conversation. You know somebody gotta crack the ice—I don’t know why they fell out.”

Nelly was the first one to confirm their romance in September 2023.

"Yeah, we cool again," he told Philo TV’s Boss Moves. "We cool again. I think it surprised both of us, though. It wasn’t anything that was, like, I don’t think planned. I think we both was pretty much doing what we do. But sometimes being separate, you understand one another more."

Ashanti later discussed their reconnecting during her red carpet appearance for the MTV VMAs, which saw her carrying a clutch with a photo of them from 20 years ago when they first met at the awards show. “We're in a great space, everything is positive, we're having a lot of fun," she told People.

Then, in December, Nelly was seen rubbing Ashanti’s belly onstage, suggesting that they were expecting. Reports quickly emerged that the singer is pregnant with her first child with Nelly, though neither artist has confirmed the rumors.