Nicki Minaj Says She Regrets Plastic Surgery After Seeing Older Photos Of Herself—'I Didn’t Like The Way I Looked'

Nicki Minaj admitted to feeling remorseful about some of her plastic surgery choices during a recent episode of The Run-Through with Vogue podcast. In conversation with hosts Chioma Nnadi and Chloe Malle, the “Super Bass” hitmaker, 40, shared her reluctance to revisit past photographs of herself as she was disappointed in her appearance during her rise to fame in the early 2010s.

“I guarantee you, if you change anything on your body and do anything surgical and all this, you’re going to — more than likely, not definitely, more than likely — look back one day and say, ‘I was fine just the way I was,'” Minaj shared. She added: “And that’s what happened to me. I could not believe even some of the photos that I didn’t love.”

Nicki Minaj Opens Up About Regretting Cosmetic Surgery And Revisiting Older Pics Of Herself

As the "Starships" rapper celebrated her cover story for Vogue's November 2023 issue, the co-hosts brought up a memorable moment from September 2011 when Minaj accompanied Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour to the Carolina Herrera Show. Minaj then explained that she doesn't like to look back on old shots of herself from that time, as "I didn’t like the way I looked."

"I didn’t like being skinny, having a flat butt, you know. Having boobs that didn’t sit high enough. It was a lot of things," she revealed. "And when I look back at myself now, I literally was like, 'Oh, I’m about to look like that girl again.'" The mom of one went on: "The reason why I wasn’t able to look back at my old photos was I didn’t like the way I looked, right, physically, and now I love the way that person looks physically."

Minaj also said that her decision to implement changes was heavily influenced by the expansion of her public persona. She stressed that her love for and commitment to making music led her into a "very scary" environment that she compared to a "fish bowl," with "millions" of people watching her. Minaj also expressed how the arrival of her 3-year-old son, affectionately referred to as "Papa Bear" and fathered by her husband Kenneth Petty, transformed her self-image.

"I think pregnancy could’ve played a role because seeing my son did remind me of myself so much. My real self. And it made me think why didn’t I like this? So weird," The "Last Time I Saw You" artist said. "But seeing old photos, being able to look at old photos again made me realize, 'These old photos are beautiful,'" she continued.

While the "Queen of Rap" refrained from divulging the specific details of her enhancements during her Vogue feature, she did, however, briefly mention the topic while appearing on The Joe Budden Podcast in March 2022.

During a moment of introspection about her early career, Minaj disclosed that she had "never" undergone any surgical procedures. However, she did concede to having received injections in her buttocks.