Nicki Says She’s Dropping Out of BET Concert After Being Shaded in Cardi Grammys Tweet
Nicki Minaj says that she is pulling out of her scheduled BET Experience Concert appearance this summer over a disparaging, since-deleted tweet from the network. The tweet accompanied an article on Cardi B’s Grammy victory for Best Rap Album. It read: “Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj is being dragged by her lacefront.”
Today, Nicki retweeted a fan who screenshotted the tweet. She also wrote, “Young Money will no longer be a part of the BET Experience or award show.” (Lil Wayne was also scheduled to perform.) A spokesperson for BET shared the following statement apologizing to Nicki.
BET loves Nicki Minaj. We have supported her from the very beginning of her career and will continue to do so moving forward. Nicki has paved the way for so many performers and has solidified her place as one of the most powerful figures in the music industry. 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. And further does not reflect our company values.
We deeply apologize for the hurt, disappointment and confusion that this post has caused. We are committed to doing everything we can to address the situation. We are also conducting an internal audit to assure these types of posts are not published again. We have apologized to Nicki and her team. The post has been removed and we have taken additional appropriate action. We understand Nicki’s position and look forward to continuing our dialogue with her. Finally, we apologize to all of her fans. This should have never happened.
Pitchfork has reached out to Nicki’s representatives for comment.
The BET Experience Concerts are set to take place June 20-22, followed by the BET Awards ceremony on June 23. Cardi B is performing at the June 22 concert.
Last year saw a number of escalating interactions between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, culminating in a physical altercation at a Fashion Week party. Along the way, Nicki sold feud-related merch and spoke about Cardi at length on her “Queen Radio” show and social media.
This article was originally published on February 11 at 3:18 p.m. Eastern. It was last updated at 5:17 p.m. Eastern.
