Ashanti Keeps Her Personal Life So Private That She’s Dated Other Music Stars On the Low
Ashanti has been in the public eye for over two decades, and throughout that time, her relationships have been a topic of discussion. But these days, you won’t find Ashanti talking about her personal life at all — and she wants to keep it that way.
Ashanti dated Nelly on and off for over a decade
For the better part of a decade in the 2000s and 2010s, Ashanti was in an on-again, off-again relationship with singer Nelly.
Both Ashanti and Nelly had similar trajectories in the music industry. Nelly’s debut single “Country Grammar (Hot S***)” launched him to stardom, while his debut album of the same name has sold over 10 million copies to date, making it one of the few hip-hop albums to achieve RIAA Diamond certification.
Ashanti also made a splash with her debut. She made Billboard Hot 100 chart history after her collaborations with Fat Joe and Ja Rule, “What’s Luv?” and “Always on Time,” reached the top two spots on the chart. Her first solo single, 2002’s “Foolish,” spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
According to HITC, Nelly and Ashanti first met in 2003 at a Grammy Awards press conference and it was practically love at first sight. “The first time I met Nelly he asked me for my autograph, but I think he was being sarcastic and I remember writing it down on the program,” Ashanti recalled in an interview with Rap-Up. “It all started out as a joke. For the record, it took him a long time to get my number.”
Still, even though the couple was known by many to be together, they never spoke about their relationship publicly.
Ashanti keeps her private life private
Ashanti opened up about her relationship habits — and how she keeps them out of the public eye — in a 2021 interview with The Breakfast Club.
“I have never in my life posted a dude that I’m dealing with,” she said frankly. “I like to keep things private.”
“It’s a little balanced; it’s half and half,” she continued. “I like to be super low, especially until things are like, solid solid.” Host Angela Yee teased that she was going to post photos of her wedding day.
She then revealed that she was in relationships with other celebrities that the world doesn’t even know about because neither of them shared their relationship status publicly.
“There are at least two people, super heavy in the industry,” she said. “We dated and we never posted. I would never.”
Ashanti has had to keep her relationship private from fans
Ashanti then told a story of when she was on a movie date one night. She overheard someone saying they recognized her and the person she was with, and her sister (who was also there) told the people not to post it.
“There have been instances. It’s been kinda close. But I’m the type of person where I like to keep my stuff low,” she said honestly. “So if you see me posting, I’m not dealing with him. Period.”
