Fat Joe says mother of his disabled son “abandoned” their child
Fat Joe recently made an appearance on the Shannon Sharpe podcast Club Shay Shay, during which he opened up about a number of sensitive issues, from the death of family members to the birth of his child.
However, another thing he also delved into was the details of his life as a single father and how, when his son Little Joey was born, he had to raise him alone due to his then-partner’s unwillingness to raise a child with Down’s syndrome and autism.
Speaking with Sharpe on October 17th, the Terror Squad founder said in blunt terms that when she had their son, she “abandoned him” and left the rapper and their child to fend for themselves.
The ‘Lean Back’ rhymer recalled their romantic situation at the time his former partner first fell pregnant, unveiling, “When he was born, first of all, me and his mother wasn’t together. We was together, broken up. I knew I didn’t want to be with this woman. It was before rap.”
During this period, Fat Joe had little money and was only 19 years old. Furthermore, he didn’t have a stable household and was temporarily living with his mother in the Bronx. Nevertheless, he could still vividly remember the day he found out he was going to be a father.
Taking himself back to 1989, he explained to Sharpe, “I’m at my mother’s house. It’s one of those rainy days. [My ex-girlfriend] walk in the building. I say, ‘Fuck it, let’s rekindle our old flame.’ She gets pregnant. With no disrespect because I love my son Joey, but I let her know, ‘I do not want to be with you, so maybe we should have this abortion because I don’t.”
According to Fat Joe, it was his ex-girlfriend who wanted to have the child but went off the idea after finding out about his several disabilities. Telling the host the painful reality of how he became a father, Joe continued, “When he’s born, the doctor tells us, ‘Hey, I have bad news to tell you. He shows us his hands, ‘he has Down’s syndrome, he’s gonna be a big challenge.’ I was there with my mother, my father and his mother. His mother was like, ‘Yo, I can’t do this. Imma have to give him up for adoption!'”
Fortunately, the emcee’s mother disagreed with that mindset and decided to raise the baby with Fat Joe. Recalling t his, Joe recounted, “My mother was like, ‘You crazy, bitch? You not giving up my fuckin’…’ And so we raised him. And he’s had his challenges. You see, I don’t know if all kids who are autistic or on the spectrum, this guy’s happy. I swear to God. He’s always happy. He’s never sad. If you’re stuck in a place, he’s stuck in happiness.”
The clip was promoted on Instagram, which led to plenty of positive comments from other celebrities. Carson Daly commented: “That’s why you’re my man Fat Joe [hands raised emoji, fire emoji, hands clapping emoji].” Lala added: “Pure unconditional love [heart emoji],” while Royce Da 5’9”, offered up a blue heart emoji.