So, just how much do Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj actually despise each other? We won’t be able to judge that for ourselves until American Idol‘s 12th season premieres next week — but in the meantime, there’s Carey’s new interview with Barbara Walters, which touches on the Mariah/Nicki feud.
A brief recap of the conflict: Mariah Carey had a vision of love — and a vision of herself as American Idol‘s only female judge. So when Fox invited Nicki Minaj to serve on the show’s new judging panel as well, there was some immediate friction between the two musicians — although both Carey and Minaj rejected rumors of bad blood. (“How can you feud in two days?” Carey joked shortly after the judging panel was made official. “I think a feud takes a little longer [to build.”)
Then TMZ released a video of Nicki cursing out Mariah during an Idol audition in North Carolina. Walters discussed the explosive clip on The View, saying that Carey had told her things got even more heated once the cameras were off. Specifically: Minaj supposedly said, “If I had a gun, I would shoot that f—ing bitch.” Mariah responded by reportedly hiring extra security. President Obama and Stevie Nicks got involved. Nicki accused Walters of taking Mariah’s side “because I’m a little black girl that raps.” It was, in sort, a Class-A fustercluck.
