Lil’ Kim shows off her baby bump backstage at the Blonds show in Fashion Week.
Lil' Kim is a lil’ pregnant and friends of the Brooklyn-born rapper — and half the Twittersphere — are whispering that prizefighter Floyd (Money) Mayweather Jr. is the odds-on favorite to be the mystery father. But hold your bets.
By midafternoon Thursday, a little-known New York-based recording artist named Mr. Papers took full credit on Twitter for impregnating the original Queen Bee, 39.
“Royal is a good name for the little homie,” he replied to a tweet congratulating him. He also retweeted a bunch of tweets calling him the father.
Mayweather, whom Kim calls her “BFF”, may just be a pawn in the diminutive rapper’s ploy to sell her reality show.
PRINCE WILLIAMS/FILMMAGIC
Lil Kim and boxing superstar Floyd 'Money' Mayweather are a tight pair, insiders tell Confidenti@l.
Multiple sources tell Confidenti@l that Mayweather, 36, and Lil’ Kim, aka Kimberly Jones, have been romantically involved although she lives in Alpine, N.J., and he resides in Las Vegas.
“They are the best of friends and have dated,” says a source close to Lil’ Kim.
Meanwhile, Papers has claimed he’s been dating Kim for some time, tweeting pics of the two together and calling her his “wife.” While Kim has been flying out to visit Mayweather in Vegas for years, she’s been popping in to spend time with Papers between Mayweather trips.
Kim and Mayweather were inseparable in Sin City last fall, when she flew out to watch him defend his light middleweight title against Mexico’s Saul Alvarez on Sept. 14. They later celebrated together, even though Mayweather is engaged to model Shantel Jackson. Days later, the best buddies were seen walking around Midtown Manhattan. They ended the month partying at Atlanta’s Privé nightclub, where Sean (Diddy) Combs was hosting a star-packed bash.
A source close to Lil’ Kim tells Confidenti@l the rapper is 4½ months pregnant — which fits a Mayweather time frame — and that she’ll reveal the name of the father on a reality show she plans to start taping in March.
But one entertainment insider says the baby-daddy drama may be to promote not just the TV show, but an album Kim plans to drop later this year, soon after she likely delivers the baby.
Papers contacted Confidenti@l Thursday night to confirm the baby is his. “I’m very upset people are going around saying this is Floyd Mayweather’s child when it’s mine. I’m excited to be a dad and am going to marry Lil Kim.”
On Wednesday, Kim performed at the Blonds Fashion Week party, where she was clearly showing a baby bump.
“I’m a mom, but I can turn it up a little!” she said to the crowd, rubbing her tummy. Reps for Mayweather and Lil’ Kim declined to comment on the bun in the oven.
