More than four months after singer and chef Kelis said that rapper Nas, her ex-husband, abused her physically and mentally during their marriage, Nas has finally responded to her accounts.
In a series of Instagram posts shared on Thursday, Nas denied ever having “beat up” his ex-wife, and alleged that she was the abusive partner, only coming forward with their story as a result of him being granted joint custody of their 9-year-old son, Knight.
“I do not beat women. I did not beat up my ex wife. Stop,” Nas wrote on the social media account.
In April, Kelis told Hollywood Unlocked that her five-year marriage with Nas was “tumultuous and toxic,” stating that they would fight frequently and that she suffered physical and emotional abuse. She said that Nas would become nearly black-out drunk then become violent, and not remember the fight the next morning. She also said that, by the time she filed for divorce in 2009, her ex-husband had been cheating for two years.
At the time, Kelis said she considered coming forward after Chris Brown’s abuse of Rihanna became public.
“I remember so clearly when the pictures came out with that whole thing that happened with her and Chris Brown. And the only way I can describe it was like double-dutch. I felt like, ‘Do I jump in? Do I say it?’ Cause I had bruises all over my body at that time,” she told the outlet. “That day, I remember being in Atlanta sitting in the kitchen and I wasn’t ready to walk.”
Across seven Instagram posts, Nas denied the accusations, stating that Kelis had described the behaviors of “normal couples,” and accused Kelis of “taking advantage” of the Me Too movement. He admitted he wasn’t a faithful husband, but said Kelis was a harmful partner in the relationship, calling her “verbally abusive and evil,” and described her as controlling of Nas and his career.
“The altercations you speak of are no more different from what most normal couples go thru, but your exaggerated version is UNJUST,” Nas wrote on captions of all-black images. “Whenever one is constantly attacked the instinct is to restrain that person or defend yourself to prevent escalation. In hindsight now my advice to young men out there in a situation like that is to RUN at the very first sign of verbal abuse or physical.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnZ2Fi1lEJN/?hl=en&taken-by=nas
He called the timing of her two-hour-long interview with Hollywood Unlocked “interesting,” and alleged that Kelis told him she would “get [him] back” following their custody agreement.
“I finally got our custody together to work with both our schedule thru court, while leaving court you tell me your gonna get me back for fighting to see my son and three weeks later you’re on camera doing an interview about ‘your truth.’ Interesting timing,” he wrote.
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He said that he waited so long to address Kelis’ interview because of the situation’s “petty” nature.
“And to all the fans that knew my silence was due to the fact that I don’t openly do this kind of petty shit… I appreciate you riding. And to those that were lead down a wrong path… I get it… very sensitive times and all things must be taken seriously,” he concluded.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnZ3pdAluES/?hl=en&taken-by=nas
Kelis has yet to respond to Nas.