LiAngelo Ball has been having great success and carving out a name for himself as he climbs out of his NBA brothers’ shadows with his hit song “Tweaker,” which led to a reported $13 million deal with Def Jam and a performance at NBA All-Star weekend.
In between those blessings Gelo has had to push back on accusations by former “Love & Hip-Hop” star MissNikkiiBaby, that he’s not a good father to his children.
Two weeks after his father LaVar went public with a foot amputation and assured everyone he was on the road to recovery and could still take Michael Jordan, Gelo recently appeared on “The Baller Alert Show,” where he was asked about the “craziest” rumor he’s heard about himself.
LiAngelo Says Rumors That He’s A Deadbeat Dad To His Son and Daughter Are False
“Sh-t, I don’t like is when n***as try to say that I’m like a deadbeat pops or something,” he said. “‘Cause I be with my young n***as every day, for real. I raised ’em up. I feel like a lot of sh-t be misleading sometimes.”
“I don’t get too worked up, for real, I don’t be mad over the internet,” he said. “I just … put my phone down, and hang out with the gang.”
At the beginning of this month, Gelo’s ex, whose actual name is Nicole Mudarris, accused him of cheating on her and abandoning their two kids. She also expressed some hate that he was expecting with his new girlfriend, Rashida Nicole.
“I am just as surprised as you are. We spent 3 1/2 years together, and last week he decided to walk out on his kids and tell me he got someone else pregnant (allegedly) and now is creating a new life with her,” Mudarris wrote on Instagram. “I have to be strong for my kids, but I have absolutely no words. Karma is real and God don’t like ugly. I hope it was worth losing his family.”
Mudarris and Ball are early in the game as parents, sharing a 2-year-old, LaVelo Anthony Ball, and a 2-month-old, LaNiyah Nicole Ball.
After the internet got ahold of Nikki’s accusations, LiAngelo later responded to her in the comments section of a Hollywood Unlocked Instagram post.
“I’ll never leave or ‘abandon’ any of my kids, so we can dead that right now,” he wrote earlier this month. “I love all my babies.”
If Ball didn’t marry Nikki after the two children, what made her think he wouldn’t start the same deal with someone else? The baller-turned-rapper also did a popular remix of his viral “Tweaker” song featuring Lil Wayne recently, so with his fame burgeoning and their romantic relationship scaled back to make room for Gelo’s new flame, Nikki is understandably pissed off and feels like Kayla Nicole after a Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift Super Bowl win.
Gelo Speaks On $13M Def Jam Contract
In January, the 26-year-old, who was expelled from UCLA after being arrested on shoplifting charges on a trip to China, also spoke with Speedy Morman about his contract.
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“I own all my music and we did do it like that though,” he said. “You know how music stuff could get, bro, so I really locked in. We’re not letting it go down that route and my team helped me put the best thing together. They said that’s the best music contract. Don’t hate me, bro. We just out here getting it.”
His social media and podcast exchanges with rapper Cam’ron have also helped Gelo build a fan base and stay in the public eye as an artist.
Gelo Moves On From Nikki, Starts Up With Rashida Nicole: Nikki Strikes Back
The Ball brother declares that despite planning a new family with his new girl, he has not abandoned his children, while also noting that he is the furthest thing from a deadbeat father.
In response to LiAngelo’s comment, Nikki released a statement of her own to further explain her previous post where she accused him of abandoning her and his two kids.
“To clarify- we DO NOT care you left me, it’s the way you DID it, blatantly disrespecting the mother of your 2 kids, not caring about my mental health while I’m caring for OUR KIDS- or my postpartum,” wrote Nikki.
“In the last 3 weeks since we separated you have tried to see them twice, why would I let you take our kids while you have a woman living with you who not only disrespected me, but whom you hardly know & is a complete stranger to me. My kids are 1 years old & 2 months, they cannot talk yet and inform me of what is going on, I am not comfortable with them being around someone I don’t even know.”
She continued, “mind you since you left, I’m the one who reached out to YOU to FaceTime them, you haven’t text or called one time asking how they are in 3 weeks.”
“Make it make sense! Also, I’ve offered for you to come here, and I would leave you chose not to. To me that is some sort of abandonment so take it how you want. Especially since you’ve been in these kids’ life since the day they were born.”
After four years of dating and bearing his children, Nikki feels betrayed, adding, “I am beyond blind-sighted by this wholething. The ultimate betrayal is not even the word.”
