Ashanti took her time to reflect on the passing of Irv Gotti. On Friday, February 7, the "Baby" singer mourned the loss of her former label boss Irving Lorenzo a couple of days after he passed away. In her Instagram post,

Ashanti addressed record producer Irv Gotti's death with an Instagram post on Feb. 7. The record producer, who worked with Ashanti in the early 2000s, died on Feb. 5.

Gotti won a Grammy in 2003 for co-producing Ashanti’s eponymous debut album, which earned best contemporary R&B album. He was nominated again the following year for co-writing Ashanti’s “Rock Wit U (Awww Baby),” which was a finalist for best R&B song.

Ashanti put her differences aside with Irv Gotti to mourn the passing of the founder of Murder Inc., who died at 54.

I can’t believe things ended like this….and it makes me so sad,” Ashanti said, paying her respects to the late Irv Gotti.

In 2022, Gotti infamously claimed he had an alleged romantic and sexual relationship with Ashanti during an appearance on the “Drink Champs” podcast. He later doubled down on his comments while appearing on an episode of “The Murder Inc Story,” claiming the pair had sex before the singer recorded her 2002 hit “Happy.”

Irv Gotti, the producer and music industry mogul who launched the careers of Ja Rule and Ashanti, has died at the age of 54, according to the Hollywood Reporter and sources close to the situation. A cause of death has not been confirmed, although sources tells Variety that he had suffered a series of strokes in recent months.