Nicki Minaj is breaking all kinds of news on Twitter!
On Monday morning, the multi-platinum rapper announced that neither she nor Lil Wayne will be performing at the BET Experience, a concert preceding the 2019 BET Awards in June.
“Young Money will no longer be apart of the BET Experience or award show,“ she tweeted out. “Summer Tour dates dropping soon.”
So, why did she abruptly pull out of the event? Well, on Sunday night, Cardi B (who has had plenty of bad blood with Minaj) won for Best Rap Album at the Grammys, becoming the first solo female rapper to do so.
Not long after, BET posted an article on the win. When the channel’s social media team shared the story, they randomly decided to bring Minaj into the conversation, according to Complex. “Meanwhile, [Nicki] Minaj is being dragged by her lacefront,” they wrote in the since-deleted posts. However, before the posts were removed, the “Chun-Li” rapper took notice, presumably leading to her decision to part ways with BET on their upcoming festivities.
Hours later, BET released a statement apologizing for their Grammys coverage, stating: “BET loves Nicki Minaj. We have supported her from the very beginning of her career and will continue to do so moving forward… Unfortunately the respect we have for Nicki was violated by this post that should never have been written. The post does not reflect how we feel about Nicki… We deeply apologize for the hurt, disappointment and confusion that this post has caused.”
However, that’s not the only scandalous situation that Minaj is discussing! She also decided to back up Ariana Grande’s condemnation of Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich.
“I pissed off the same man Ariana just called out for lying,” she tweeted. “Grammy producer KEN. I was bullied into staying quiet for 7 years out of fear. But I’ll tell my fans the REAL on the next episode of #QueenRadio they deserve the truth. Also, CONGRATS to everyone who won last night.”
In the days leading up to the Grammys, reports began to surface that Grande wouldn’t be performing despite the Recording Academy previously announcing her appearance. Ehrlich told Th Associated Press that Grande wouldn’t participate because it “was too late for her to pull something together” after a month of debating which songs she’d perform. The songstress quickly pushed back.
“I’ve kept my mouth shut but now you’re lying about me,” Grande tweeted. “I can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. It was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that I decided not to attend. I hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more.”
“I offered 3 different songs,” she added. “It’s about collaboration. It’s about feeling supported. It’s about art and honesty. Not politics. Not doing favors or playing games. It’s just a game y’all.. and I’m sorry but that’s not what music is to me.”
Ehrlich responded with a staunch defense of his character, claiming he is a strong advocate for meeting artists halfway.
“I saw those tweets and what she said. I guess it was a surprise,” Ehrlich told Rolling Stone prior to the big night. “I will say this, and they don’t want me to say it but I’m going to say it: The thing that probably bothered me more than whatever else she said about me is when she said I’m not collaborative.”
“The fact of the matter is… You can ask Christina Aguilera, who I asked to do ‘It’s a Man’s World’ for James Brown,” Ehrlich continued. “You can ask Melissa Etheridge, who finished her cancer treatment and I put her out on stage, bald, doing Janis Joplin. You can ask Ricky Martin who overnight became the creator of the Latin music revolution. Ask Mary J. Blige, who was scared sh*tless to go out there and do ‘No More Drama.’ I basically worked with her to mold it. Ask H.E.R. who’s in this show.”
