Nelly’s got the Internet on fire. There’s a steamy new video circulating on social media involving the St. Louis rapper and another woman. Although this woman is NOT (we repeat, NOT) named Ashanti Douglas, that did not stop social media from keeping her name trending.
If you have not already seen the not-safe-for-work clip that was seemingly accidentally uploaded, brace yourself. In the short clip, the “Country Grammar” rapper was in the midst of being intimate with an unnamed woman. The video clip was uploaded to Nelly’s Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Feb 8th, before quickly being deleted. However, some of the rapper and actor’s 3.3 million Instagram followers got a chance to see the action before its removal.
By this point, we all know how social media operates. Depending on your level of popularity, once content is placed on any of the apps, it’s there forever, whether intentional or not. And if the content is salacious, juicy, or any of the sort, it spreads like wildfire. Such could be said for this situation for Nelly. Although the video was deleted, it had already been screen-recorded and shared on various social media accounts.
Soon after, Nelly began to trend, not necessarily because of the act being performed. A quick glance at a Twitter search for the name “Nelly” will show you how disappointed a lot of women claimed they were after seeing the video. For example, “Nelly kinda not giving what I thought it was gonna give,” wrote one Twitter user. Many others chimed in that they did not expect to see that level of exposure from the rapper “this year.”
However, some stood up for the Real Husbands of Hollywood star. One wrote on Twitter that they “thought we, as the Black Community, made a pact not to clown each other during Black History Month. Why tf is Nelly and, especially Ashanti, trending on Marcus Garvey’s Internet?!?!” Yes, you read that correctly. Not only was Nelly trending on Twitter, but so was Ashanti.
Many can recall that the St. Lunatics affiliate and the “Foolish” singer dated for about a decade. However, their relationship was reported to have ended in 2014. Since then, Ashanti has not looked back in his direction, and social media has their theories as to why. “Nelly, now I see why Ashanti ain’t want you back,” wrote one user on Twitter along with a video clip of Charlamagne and comedian Donnell Rawlings laughing. Another commented that Ashanti “dodged a bullet, or better yet a [shrimp].”
Damn Nelly now I see why Ashanti ain’t want you back 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/uF6fJY2m02
— JeRem!@H (@Jeremiah151738) February 8, 2022
“Now I understand why Ashanti paid Nelly dust at that VERZUZ battle,” tweeted another. And almost immediately, the video clip of Ashanti having a conversation with rappers Fat Joe, Ja Rule, and Remy Ma after their Verzuz battle began to circulate. The four were speaking about Nelly approaching his former lover on stage publicly to embrace her. Ja Rule shed light on Nelly’s relationship status, reminding her that he was single. “Yeah, but I ain’t,” responded Ashanti.
Overall, many seemingly came to a conclusion on social media that Ashanti was too beautiful to put up with what Nelly has to offer… Recently, Nelly sat alongside comedian Kevin Hart on the KFC Radio Barstool Sports podcast to promote their upcoming reboot to the BET series titled Real Husbands of Hollywood: More Kevin More Problems. A video clip of the interview has since begun to circulate on social media with what appears to be the moment Nelly discovered the leak. The rapper can be seen looking down at his phone and uttering “Oh my God,” while Kevin Hart quickly glances. They both then erupt in nervous laughter while the hosts appear clueless.
Since the leak, Nelly’s team issued a statement apologizing for the leak and to the unnamed woman. Speaking with TMZ, the rapper offered his sincerest apologies to both the woman and her family and acknowledged the unfortunate “unwanted publicity” it brought their way. “This was an old video that was private and never meant to go public,” he added.
