- Nelly changed diapers consistently but relied on a nanny when available, not refusing the responsibility entirely.
- Ashanti witnessed Nelly immediately step up after their son’s birth, changing his first diaper in the hospital.
- Nelly argues his original joke was misinterpreted and emphasizes he provides the best support through professional help.
Not so fast! Despite last year’s Derrty daddy diaper discourse, Ashanti is assuring fans that her hubby Nelly is indeed a hands-on father.
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club on Wednesday (Oct. 28), the couple addressed the ongoing conversation surrounding Nelly’s involvement in caring for their 2-year-old son, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes, also known as KK.
The discussion revisited a viral moment from the first season of their Peacock reality series, Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together, where the rapper told his wife that he had no intention of changing their infant son’s diapers.
“I’ma take you back to this conversation we had before you kicked me under the table,” Nelly told his wife who fans likened to a “married single mother” because of Nelly’s comments. “I said, ‘Baby, I’ll give you the world. I just ain’t changing no diaper.’ ”
Although the exchange sparked criticism online, Nelly maintained Wednesday that his comments were never meant to suggest he refused to participate in the responsibility.
“I changed them when I said it, but it just wasn’t a consistent change,” said Nelly on The Breakfast Club. “It’s like, yo, if the nanny’s within earshot, I’m paying for that.”
Ashanti then offered a different perspective, recalling how Nelly stepped up immediately after their son’s birth.
“He actually changed [KK’s] very first diaper,” she said. “We slept in the hospital room when he was born. He popped up first to change the diapers.”
As previously reported in December 2025, Nelly addressed the backlash during an interview with DJ Envy for 96.1 The Beat, insisting that he had always participated in changing diapers for his children.
“Let’s be clear. I have changed Pampers,” he said at the time. “Even when I made that statement, I have changed Pampers.”
The Grammy-winning rapper also questioned why the subject had become such a significant measure of his parenting, arguing that the public had placed too much emphasis on one aspect of raising children.
In a separate interview with PEOPLE, Nelly added that the couple’s on-camera exchange clearly didn’t translate as he intended.
“It was on our show, so if it didn’t come off as a joke, then we are the ones to look at for that,” he said. “But yeah, of course I’ve changed diapers. I think people took a joke and made it into a debate.”
He continued,
“My thought process wasn’t like, ‘Yo, I’m not changing the diaper.’ Our conversation was like, ‘Listen, I’ll do whatever needs to be done, but what I’m saying is that I’m giving you the best help I can get with me and a 24-hour nanny.’ See, everybody forgets that part.”
Nelly is also a father to two older biological children and previously assumed responsibility for raising his late sister Jackie Donahue’s two children.
The couple’s latest comments come ahead of the second season of Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together, which premieres Nov. 19 on Peacock.
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