Ashanti has been rumored to be pregnant with Nelly‘s child for several months, and now her mom has seemingly confirmed the news.
Tina Douglas, who is also her daughter’s longtime manager, was congratulated about the alleged pregnancy during a recent public appearance on stage.
Douglas said that nothing has been announced “yet,” before appearing to confirm the news by simply saying it hasn’t “officially been announced.”
“Well, there’s been no announcement. It hasn’t come out yet,” she said. “But, you know, until I hear it from Ashanti and Nelly…”
When the host offered her apologies, Douglas replied: “No, it is public. Don’t get it twisted. But it hasn’t officially been announced. So until it is…”
Rumors about Ashanti being pregnant surfaced in December when Nelly was spotted rubbing her stomach on stage at the Black and White Ball in St. Louis.
Some of the rubbing came in response to the rapper’s exhortation that the celebrity couple should “seal the deal.”
Ashanti added fuel to the rumors in January during a performance alongside Ja Rule, with the “Foolish” hitmaker appearing with what some interpreted as a discreetly concealed baby bump.
The former Murder Inc. labelmates performed their smash hit “Mesmerize,” with Ashanti wearing an oversized t-shirt dress paired with thigh-high boots in what fans thought looked like an attempt to hide her.
Nelly previously confirmed that he and Ashanti were back together in September, calling it a “surprise” for both of them.
“Yeah, we cool again,” he said at the time. “I think it surprised both of us. It wasn’t anything that I don’t think planned. I think we were both doing pretty much what we do. Sometimes being separate you understand one another more.
“You could be like maybe let me see exactly what they say. You know we could all be defensive in our relationships. We know we wrong but we gonna stand on it. We all a victim to that.”
He added: “It’s no pressure. Before, I felt both of us doing what we doing career wise and you got so many people in the middle of it, it could be tough.