It’s no secret that things have been rocky between Benzino and his daughter, Coi Leray. The former Love & Hip Hop star recently sat down with Carlos King, finally opening up about the emotional distance that’s been weighing heavy on him. He unpacked years of tension, missed signals, and public fallouts that have kept him and Coi from being the close daddy-daughter duo they once were.
Carlos didn’t hold back, diving straight into the heart of the matter. “Where do you think things went wrong between you and Coi?” he asked, even mentioning that Benzino was recently disinvited from her baby shower. It’s a tough situation, for sure.
Benzino confessed he truly doesn’t have all the answers. He mused about how being a public figure, a “street guy” with kids, might have played a role. “We don’t have a manual. We just go by what we know,” he shared. He added that as he’s gotten older, he’s gained perspective from his own parents, hoping his kids can be even better than him.
He also recalled Coi always having a protective streak, especially when it came to the women he dated. “One thing about Coi… Coi is gonna grill any chick I’m with when I’m not there,” he explained. He remembered Karlie Redd confirming this, saying Coi grilled her too. Talk about a loyal daughter!
Still, Benzino feels some of the disconnect came from him missing his daughter’s emotional needs. He admitted he probably didn’t pay enough attention, even when people told him. “As long as I have her, she’s with me, she’s having fun, she’s getting money… everything’s cool. She’s around. I don’t know how we got here,” he reflected. It sounds like he regrets not being more present emotionally.
Carlos then brought up the moment the public really caught on to their strained relationship: Coi’s music, where she openly sang about feeling abandoned by her father. Benzino stated he was completely blindsided by this public revelation.
He shared that navigating the situation online was incredibly difficult. “I didn’t know how to handle this… like, on the internet. I didn’t see this coming,” he said. “There was no manual or something I could look in, ask ChatGPT, ‘Hey, what do I do?’ I didn’t know what to do. My feelings were hurt.”
He now regrets responding online, admitting it only fueled the public fallout. “I shouldn’t have did that,” he confessed. “I never knew she felt that way about me. Anything I did was out of love… and anything I might not have did right was just me not knowing. I didn’t do anything on purpose to hurt anybody.” It’s clear he feels misunderstood.
Now, with Coi having recently given birth to her first child, Benzino says the emotional distance feels even heavier. “It’s just a touchy situation because she just had a baby… and I haven’t seen her,” he revealed.
He explained that he only sees pictures of his grandchild when they hit the blogs, just like everyone else. “I just wish it would stop. Just go back to being normal again,” he expressed, his longing for a connection palpable.
Whether these two can finally reconcile remains to be seen. But Benzino’s interview painted a picture of a father genuinely hoping for peace, healing, and another chance to connect with his daughter and new grandchild. We’re all rooting for them.
As of now, Coi has not publicly responded to her dad’s latest interview. Catch a clip from the interview below:
