Nelly’s Parenting Comes Under Fire After He Says Sons ‘Gotta Get the F Out’ After Falling on Hard Times But Daughters Can ‘Always Come Home’
Nelly has adopted a controversial double standard for tough love parenting, and fans have taken issue with it. The rapper is a father to adult children Chanelle Haynes, 31, and Cornell “Tre” Haynes, 26, whom he shares with ex Channetta Valentine.
The “Hot in Herre” emcee is also a new dad to his and wife Ashanti’s 8-month-old son Kareem Kenkaide Haynes and an adoptive parent to his late sister Jackie’s two kids, Shawn and Sydney.
During his March 8 appearance on the “Drink Champs” podcast, Nelly confessed to having an especially soft spot for daughter Chanelle.
“I f—ked up ’cause I told my daughter, ‘Yeah, baby, don’t worry about it, you can always come home. You always got a room,” he told hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN. However, that grace she is privy to does not extend as far to her brother.
The hitmaker explained, “My son, he can come home, but he get the couch. Eventually, he gotta get the f—k out. He got to. He a man. You got to go. You can always come home …sometimes when s—t don’t work out, I ain’t knocking that ’cause you gotta get back up on your feet. But just know, n—ga, this is temporary.”
The admission did not sit well with fans who called it “so wrong” and do not believe gender should dictate how and to what extent a parent shows up for their child in times of need.
A sarcastic response to the clip read, “Let’s teach our daughters spoiled entitlement and our son’s non-empathy and neglect. That’s been working.”
An X user outraged by the ideology wrote, “Only black people think like this. Never send your kids out there to struggle.” A third person typed, “That mentality has to change.” Someone who shares the same strict policy as the hip-hop artist is Shaquille O’Neal.
A few fans crassly joked that Nelly was ultimately not keen on the idea of another man having an abundance of access to his wife for too long and that Tre was no exception. They commented, “Naw he don’t want his son around Ashanti for too long.”
The lovebirds quietly rekindled their romance in 2023—they broke up 10 years earlier after dating for a decade. They were married that December, and their first pregnancy was revealed in April 2024. The “Baby” singer has revealed they have plans to expand their family sometime in the future.
