American Idol banter turns nasty
American Idol has barely gotten underway and a purported feud between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj — they’ve both denied the beef — has become a full-blown diva showdown, as seen in video leaked by TMZ on Tuesday evening.
In the clip, Minaj and Carey are in a heated argument that reportedly derailed auditions in Charlotte, N.C.
There’s plenty of swearing and shouting in the clip, so it’s hard to fully decipher the argument. However, Minaj called the pop diva “disrespectful” and the pop diva replied by calling her a word that rhymes with “itch.”
Reports claim that the fight was over a contestant’s performance and that Minaj threatened she was going to “knock out” Carey. All while poor Keith Urban, who is seated between the two, Randy Jackson and Idol producers tried to calm the situation.
“I don’t feel inadequate. You’re the insecure one sittin’ up there running down her résumé every five minutes,” Minaj yells at one point. “If you gotta . . . problem then handle it. I told them, I’m not . . . putting up with your . . . highness over there . . . figure it the . . . out. Figure it out.”
On Idol host Ryan Seacrest’s radio show Wednesday morning, he confirmed the spat. “There was a very heated, intense argument towards the end of the day after a contestant did a little bit of a performance in the room . . . It did go too far, to the point where the producers said with just a few more contestants left, ‘Let’s call it a day,’” he said.
While the Internet is busy reacting, the brass at Fox (and Seacrest) must be hoping the ratings-pumping drama continues.