Maduka Okoye sat beside Cardi B at Gio’s restaurant inside the St. Regis hotel on Sunday night, sharing a table with several other guests as they watched a fireworks display from above the canal.
TMZ obtained video of the dinner and reported that Cardi wore a turquoise dress and spent the evening chatting with the table, while Okoye smiled through most of it.
A source told the outlet there was no show of affection between them, only two people who looked comfortable in each other’s company.
This was not the first time the two had been seen together. Weeks earlier, at the Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture show during Paris Fashion Week, Okoye had helped Cardi into her seat and passed her a fan when she complained about the heat. The pair were later spotted talking on a balcony at a separate event during the same trip, the Messika Collection Haute Joaillerie showcase. Neither has said anything publicly about the nature of their relationship.
Cardi B, who ended her relationship with NFL player Stefon Diggs earlier this year, is currently single. Okoye, a goalkeeper for Udinese and the Super Eagles who stands six feet six inches, has drawn attention from fans online for months.
Within hours of the Venice dinner coming out, Jelicia Westhoff, a Dutch model and the mother of Okoye’s son, posted a lengthy statement on Instagram accusing him of cheating throughout their relationship. She wrote that he had betrayed her “with men and women” and said the reason he never dated other women was that “he sleeps with men too.”
Westhoff did not stop at infidelity. She said their son had been hospitalized four times in December, once requiring an ambulance and intensive care, and that Okoye “didn’t even come.”
She claimed he had seen the boy only twice in 2026 and three times the year before, despite promising to stay involved. In the same post, she accused him of physical abuse during their relationship and said she had stayed silent for years to protect his career, writing, “I made you. No one knew who you was.”
Okoye has not responded to any of the allegations as of this report.
Reaction online split quickly along two lines. Some commenters said they believed Westhoff, with one Instagram user writing that suspicions about Okoye had circulated even before Cardi B entered the picture.
Others accused Westhoff of timing her post for attention, questioning why she waited until Okoye was trending with a new woman to speak publicly, with one comment asking directly why she hadn’t gone to court if the neglect claims were true.
Maduka Okoye and Cardi B were seen together in Paris earlier this month.
