Tweet about Nicky Minaj spirals into online chaos
Woman attacked for sharing opinion of artist’s music
Wanna Thompson, 26, has long considered herself a Nicki Minaj fan.
As a freelance writer living in Toronto, Thompson also counts herself as a cultural critic with a focus on hip-hop, and with her insights, she has built an audience via her personal website and social media feeds. So when she posted a tweet one evening late last month about Minaj’s recent musical direction, Thompson hoped only to spark a conversation among the rap obsessives with whom she regularly communes.
“You know how dope it would be if Nicki put out mature content?” Thompson wrote to her then 14,000 or so followers. “No silly” stuff, she added with an expletive. “Just reflecting on past relationships, being a boss, hardships, etc. She’s touching 40 soon, a new direction is needed.”
What happened next was one part dystopian sci-fi, and one part an everyday occurrence in pop-culture circles online: The Nicki Minaj stans — or superfans — attacked.
Then, galvanizing them further, Minaj chimed in, too.
In the week since publicizing the acidic messages she received directly from Minaj, whose next album, Queen, is scheduled for release in August, Thompson said she has received thousands of vicious, derogatory missives across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, email and even her personal cellphone, calling her every variation of stupid and ugly, or worse. Some of the anonymous horde included pictures Thompson once posted on Instagram of her 4-year-old daughter, while others told her to kill herself. Thompson also lost her internship at an entertainment blog in the chaotic days that followed, and she is now considering seeing a therapist.
“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” Thompson said through tears in an interview, calling herself “physically drained” and “mentally depleted.”
Such are the risks of the new media playing field, which may look level from afar, but still tilts toward the powerful. As social media has knocked down barriers between stars and their faithful (or their critics), direct communication among the uber-famous and practically anonymous has become the norm. But while mutual praise can cause both sides to feel warm and tingly, more charged interactions can leave those who have earned a star’s ire, like Thompson, reeling as eager followers take up the celebrity’s cause.
“Her fans mimic her behaviour,” Thompson said of Minaj, who responded to her critique after some of the rapper’s 21million followers brought the initial tweet to the attention of their queen.
In response to Thompson, Minaj started obliquely, posting a list on Twitter of her own songs that she considered mature. But in a tweet the next day, Thompson revealed two direct messages from Minaj — much of it in unprintable language — in which the rapper called her “ugly” and implored, “Just say u jealous I’m rich, famous intelligent, pretty and go!” (Minaj also took issue with Thompson’s characterization of her age; “I’m 34,” Minaj wrote, before correcting herself in the next message: “My bad I’m 35.”)
It was far from an isolated incident. The practice of the celebrity “clap back” has earned its own recurring spotlight from influential gossip purveyors like the Shade Room, and stars are often praised for batting down some of the thousands of cruel, unfounded comments they receive every day.
The incident also affected Thompson’s professional life.
Since April, she had written remotely as an unpaid intern for KarenCivil.com, the eponymous blog of the hip-hop media personality Karen Civil, who also advises artists on social media and brand strategy. Minaj is a client of Civil’s — a fact Thompson said she did not know when she wrote her initial tweet. But as Thompson’s assessment picked up steam online that night, its signal boosted by outraged Nicki Minaj fans, she was told by KarenCivil.com staff in an internal group chat to delete the tweet.
Thompson then received an email from the site’s chief operating officer, Christian Emiliano, informing her that her internship position had been terminated.
The ordeal continued to light up social media, raising questions about the interaction between fans and their commentators, as well as about an entertainment media landscape that blurs the line between journalistic coverage and promotion. There was even a popular hashtag: #Istandwithwanna.