Nicki Minaj Describes Meek Mill’s Judge as “Sweet and Maternal”

Nicki Minaj has discussed her ex-boyfriend Meek Mill’s legal situation in a new interview with Devin Gordon for Elle. “I’m also not gonna bad-mouth a judge,” Nicki stated, referring to the controversial Judge Genece Brinkley, whom Meek’s team continues to try to get removed from the case. “I know that when I went there pleading for his freedom, I know that she... spoke to me and was very sweet and maternal, and we both cried in her chambers, and she gave him another chance,” she said. Read the full interview, which took place two weeks before Meek’s prison release, over at Elle.

Nicki previously discussed Meek’s case with Zane Lowe. “I will say that the judge in question did everything I asked of her. So, I can’t bad-mouth her because I met her personally, and I know what she said to us. And he knows that, and I know that. But, of course, I wouldn’t wish jail on anybody,” Nicki told Lowe in April. “What made me shed tears the other day was seeing his mother cry.... ’Cause she, during the relationship, was always so sweet to me.”

Judge Genece Brinkley sentenced Meek Mill to two-to-four years in prison back in November 2017. In March, while Meek was still in prison, Judge Brinkley denied a request for her recusal from the case after various petitions from Meek’s team. Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied a petition to have Brinkley removed from Meek’s post-conviction appeal.

In addition to assertions of bias and judicial misconduct, Meek has said that Brinkley once summoned him and Nicki for a private meeting in her chambers, where she allegedly asked them to cover Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee” and dedicate it to her. Meek told Rolling Stone that Nicki “bust[ed] out laughing.” Nicki has now told Elle, “[Brinkley] never asked me to sing.”