Nas Denies Kelis' Allegations of Abuse

In April, Kelis gave an interview to Hollywood Unlocked about her five-year marriage to Nas. The singer labeled it as a "tumultuous" union, one that was both physically and mentally abusive. After five months of silence, Nas denied the accusations in a seven-part statement on Instagram. "I do not beat women. I did not beat up my ex-wife," he wrote. "I’m no longer allowing you to take advantage of the fact that I did not want to respond in a manner that could affect my kids, friends or family publicly. THAT ENDS TODAY."

In the statements, he makes claims that Kelis is keeping him away from their child Knight, and accuses her of mental and physical abuse. "I instilled strength in my daughter who you were already so jealous of and treated poorly. Being jealous and verbally abusive to a little girl," he wrote.

According to Nas, the singer has continued to be abusive even after their divorce. "After 10 years of keeping my silence during a decade of dealing with very hostile behavior and verbal abuse and even your stepfather holding you back from one of your physical violent attacks on me right outside your house this year while trying to pick up our son while he watched from the window." The rapper claims over the course of their relationship she'd done this publicly, in front of their staff who can't speak on the abuse they've seen due to NDA's.

Nas's response doesn't do much to provide fans with a better sense of what went on in their five-year marriage. The rapper avoided the scandal on NASIR, released this June. In his final caption, Nas says this is the first and last time he'll speak on the allegations.

A representative for Nas said that he had no additional comment aside from his Instagram post. Noisey reached out to representatives for Kelis, but they have yet to respond at press time.

Kristin Corry is a staff writer for Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.