Nicki Minaj is still one of the biggest, most recognizable stars on the planet, but in the past year, her sensitivity to criticism and tendency to lash out at detractors — both personally, on her Queen Radio show, and by proxy, goading her Barbz into Twitter bullying campaigns — have somewhat tarnished her reputation. However, that’s not the way she sees it; in a deleted series of tweets, the self-professed “Mrs. Petty” railed against what she sees as unfair treatment from outlets marketed to Black audiences versus friendlier treatment from outsider sources, which usually decline to take sides in her various disagreements.
“What the white ppl post. >>>>>>,” she tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “The blacks only post the few seconds where I raise my voice to push their narrative.” The tweet also contained an embedded video clip from E! Nightly Pop in which the hosts addressed one of Nicki’s Queen Radio tirades about Wendy Williams’ estranged husband, Kevin Hunter. Nicki and Wendy have been engaged in a tit-for-tat for some time, and Nicki chose her Beats 1 Radio platform to gloat.
https://twitter.com/SlideAroundAri/status/1191569957361983488
Unfortunately for Nicki, her moment of celebration was perceived by many fans to be just another symptom of why the disparity in coverage exists in the first place. “Nicki Minaj been hating and bashing black people all year,” wrote one fan. “But y’all gonna slide past right over this and go back hating on cardi next week because some white kids on stan twitter told y’all to.”
https://twitter.com/BreionBruh/status/1191927757602775040
Other fans pointed out that Nicki’s framing simply reiterated harmful stereotypes and “othering” language that is used to justify the unjust treatment of Black people by various power structures throughout American history: “I love your music,” wrote another fan. “But the fact that you said “white ppl” and then refer to us as “the blacks” just furthers the idea that “blacks” aren’t people. That’s an idea that goes wayyy back. I’m mad hurt. Unconscious ideas are a mf. You gotta be aware of what you saying.”
You know what..I love your music. But the fact that you said “white ppl” and then refer to us as “the blacks” just furthers the idea that “blacks” aren’t people. That’s an idea that goes wayyy back. I’m mad hurt. Unconscious ideas are a mf. You gotta be aware of what you saying.
— ☀️ (@yougoginaa) November 5, 2019
Meanwhile, some commenters felt that Nicki only brings negative attention to herself and spends too much time worrying about how she’s been portrayed in the media. “Block these gossip pages at this point cuz it’s like u wanna be upset,” advised one. “White people are the farthest thing from being on your side”
https://twitter.com/JULURIAFLACA/status/1191787439716798472
Nicki has since deleted the offending tweet, but with social media, nothing ever really goes away. You can be sure that the next time she commits a public gaffe or finds time in her busy schedule to exchange insults with another artist, this moment will resurface as an example of how she loves to dish it out, but hates to get any on herself.
