Donzerly Light: Nicki Minaj's Beefs

Editor's Note: Heath wrote this before Nicki Minaj's recent revelation of being a MAGA idiot. He saw it coming : )

Watching two celebrities have a public spat is something I enjoy. Maybe “enjoy” is the wrong word. It’s something I like to examine? (That sounds more respectable.)

It can get cringy, but it’s usually fun if whatever they’re arguing about is stupid. Take for example the time Jennifer Lawrence told Vogue in an interview that she had purchased a house and when she moved in, it was full of crystals and geodes and she asked someone to get rid of the crystals and geodes, but someone on her staff told her that they had to call a crystal specialist to come in and move them or it’s bad luck. She told them to get rid of them anyway and then her house flooded. Coincidence? Spencer Pratt (he was on the show The Hills several years ago, if you’re having trouble placing the name) doesn’t think so. He went online and says he’s never seeing another Jennifer Lawrence movies because she was talking shit about crystals and he felt like those comments were directed at him.

At this point, you might be asking yourself the same question I asked myself, “Who the fuck is asking for Spencer Pratt’s opinion on anything?” Whoever that is, is the real villain in this story. I tried to find out if Spencer Pratt ever saw another Jennifer Lawrence movie and my findings were inconclusive. I couldn’t even determine if he’d seen any movies since this happened, but I feel pretty confident that he hasn’t read any books since then.

Jennifer Lawrence never did respond to Spencer Pratt, but you know who maybe had the best comeback ever? That honor goes to Rihanna. Several years ago, Ciara commented during in an interview that she’d run into Rihanna at a party and Rihanna “wasn’t the nicest.” Rihanna responded online by saying, “My bad Ci. Did I 4get to tip u?” which is a pretty solid comeback and Ciara probably should have just left things alone. But she didn’t. She replied, “Trust me Rihanna u don’t want to see me on or off the stage.” Not only is that vaguely threatening, she was also more or less setting up Rihanna for any number of responses about how no one wants to see Ciara on stage, but Rihanna went in a slightly different direction and replied, “Good luck with booking that stage u speak of.” And that is how you do it, folks. Rihanna has since referred to her online shenanigans as troll behavior, and if it was troll behavior, she set the standard that other internet trolls should attempt to live up to.

But if we’re talking about celebrity beefs, we need to discuss the undisputed queen of celebrity beefs: Nicki Minaj, a title she earned because of the sheer number of beefs she’s been involved in. I can immediately think of at least 10 celebrities that Nicki Minaj has argued with and I didn’t even have to Google it! I don’t know how she has time to record albums or even sleep with all the arguing she’s doing day in and day out. Most of the people she argues with are other female rappers and since a lot of the content of rap music is about boasting about how good of a rapper you are, maybe she just can’t help herself.

Or, since she’s a grown person, she could probably try and a different way to process what’s bothering her. Yoga is helpful when it comes to mindfulness and self-reflection. She could try some breathing exercises or maybe even regular exercises. Go for a long walk when someone gets under your skin just because they exist! Sometimes when I’m annoyed at a coworker, I’ll write an email detailing the many, many reasons why I think they’re a shithead and then delete it because I know sending it would just make the situation worse. She could try something like that. Or I guess she could keep being a full lunatic online since she hasn’t really faced any consequences for that behavior thus far.

Speaking of consequences, do not tell her I wrote this essay. The last thing I need is Nicki Minaj ripping me to shreds on X. I like to think she’s got more important people to focus on, but it’s kind of hard to tell what or who is going to set her off. See below for just a few of the people who have had the honor of doing that.

• Cardi B: Nicki Minaj’s beef with Cardi B has been going on for almost 10 years. Way back in 2017, Nicki Minaj liked a fan’s comment dissing Cardi B on X. Soon after, they both wrote verses for the Migos song “MotorSport” and it sounds like they didn’t love working together, but things really took a turn in September 2018 when they got into a physical altercation at the Harper’s Bazaar ICONS party in New York City. Apparently, they argued and then Cardi B threw a shoe at Nicki Minaj. Cardi B was escorted out of the party with a ripped dress and a visible lump on her head. They continued to argue off and on for years and things got intense again in September 2025 when Cardi B’s new album came out. Nicki Minaj pointed out on X that the promotional price for the album was just $4.99 on iTunes and that started off a whole back and forth that involved comments directed at their children and Cardi B mentioning that Nicki Minaj’s brother is currently in jail for child rape. At least they kept everything above board!

  
  

• Taylor Swift: In 2015, Taylor Swift was nominated for Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards for her song, “Bad Blood,” a very apt title in this scenario. Nicki Minaj was not nominated for Video of the Year for her song, “Anaconda.” Naturally, Nicki Minaj complained about it on Twitter and instead of just saying, “I’m angry that my song wasn’t nominated,” she said that MTV only nominates women with slim bodies. Taylor Swift responded on Twitter, saying that Nicki Minaj was pitting women against each other. Nicki Minaj said she wasn’t talking about Taylor Swift, something she was certainly doing. They ended up making up and performing together on the show that year and I kind of feel like that’s similar to giving a child a treat after they’ve thrown a temper tantrum.

  
  

• Miley Cyrus: Miley Cyrus was the host of the MTV Video Music Awards that same year and while promoting the show, she said in an interview that Nicki Minaj was, “not too kind.” During the show, Nicki Minaj won an award and in her acceptance speech she said, “Now, back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press. Miley, what’s good?” From an objective standpoint, this seems to confirm the idea that Nicki Minaj is “not too kind.” It certainly doesn’t suggest that she’s the average amount of kind. And did Miley Cyrus have “a lot” to say about Nicki Minaj? I don’t think three words counts as “a lot.” That’s just math. When Miley Cyrus suggested that her remark was taken out of context, Nicki Minaj said that it’s not right that Miley Cyrus has Black performers in her videos and on stage with her, but that she doesn’t want to know how a Black woman feels. I bet the gaslighters of the world fucking loved that! Anyway, Miley Cyrus said she liked Cardi B in a song in 2019 and then Nicki Minaj called her a Perdue chicken, an oddly specific insult.

  
  

• SZA: I don’t know if anyone who was had a public dustup with Nicki Minaj was expecting to be involved in a public dustup with Nicki Minaj, but I think SZA was caught by surprise more than most. In July 2025, Nicki Minaj posted several tweets that accused Terrence Henderson of bullying. When I first read that name, I assumed Terrence Henderson was the widower of Florence Henderson, from The Brady Bunch, and I was surprised that he was still alive and then wondered why he’d be bullying anyone. It turns out that Terrence Henderson is the president of Top Dawg Entertainment and has never even met Florence Henderson. Around the same time that Nicki Minaj was posting those tweets, SZA posted, “Mercury retrograde – don’t take the bait lol silly goose.” So of course Nicki Minaj assumed that tweet was about her (I’m starting to think that she thinks every tweet is about her) and then posted a bunch of tweets critiquing SZA’s appearance and downplaying her success. SZA wrapped up the mostly one-sided exchange by tweeting, “Yall have a blessed night!” I wonder what pisses Nicki Minaj off more – when she thinks people are criticizing her or when she realizes people aren’t interested in her at all.

  
  

• Megan Thee Stallion: In 2019, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion collaborated on the song “Hot Girl Summer,” but every summer eventually comes to an end and so did their friendship. It’s not exactly clear why they fell out, but if I had to guess, it would probably be because Nicki Minaj seems to be threatened by just about every other female performer (see the first four people on this list and also Lil’ Kim, Remy Ma, Iggy Azalea, Latto, Mariah Carey, etc.). In 2023, in her song, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” Nicki Minaj said, “I don’t fuck with horses since Christopher Reeves,” a line directed at Megan Thee Stallion that not only got Christopher Reeve’s last name wrong, but it also seemed wildly insensitive, even for Nicki Minaj. A year later, Megan Thee Stallion released a song, “Hiss,” in which she rapped, “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law.” Megan’s Law is a piece of legislation that requires convicted sex offenders to register on the sex offender registry. Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty is a registered sex offender in New York and has spent time in jail for attempted rape. A few days later, Nicki Minaj released a song called, “Big Foot,” a diss track that referenced Megan Thee Stallion being shot in the foot in 2020. To each their own, but for my money, getting shot in the foot is far less problematic than being married to a sex offender. Perfectly lovely people get shot in the foot every day!

  
  

Takeaway Quote of the Week

“Nicki Minaj. You paid for your brother’s wedding? That’s hella foul. How you spending money to support a pedophile?”

-Remy Ma in “Shether,” indirectly asking to be removed from Nicki Minaj’s Christmas card list.

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Heath Smith is co-host of Fuzzy Memories, the podcast that celebrates the good, the rad and the fugly of the 80s and 90s. He was once asked by a cast member of MTV’s Road Rules if he was from Puerto Rico. In his free time, he enjoys Mariah Carey a normal and healthy amount. For a good time, follow him on Instagram.

Why "Donzerly Light"? Heath says: In elementary school, I thought "donzerly light" was part of the lyrics of the national anthem. I didn't realize that the actual words were "dawn's early light." I just assumed "donzerly" was an old-timey word that meant "majestic" or something like that. My middle school social studies teacher, who thought I was trying to make a joke with “donzerly,” would be 100% irritated by naming my column this way, and that makes it even better.