Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, better known as Nicki Minaj, is a rapper who has always shown appreciation for the Queer community. She started her career in the 2000s and, while being one of the only popular female rappers in mainstream media at the time, Minaj stood out in other ways, which was what attracted her LGBTQ+ fanbase.
She has publicly spoken out to her gay fans from as early as 2010, where she addressed her gay fans and their internal struggles with mental health. In an MTV interview she said, “I would encourage my gay fans to be fighters and to be brave… I love you very very much, and for the people who don’t love you, they need help.”
Minaj also wasn’t afraid to joke around with and connect to her audience. In a paparazzi video from 2011, she was asked when the world would see a gay rapper, Minaj responded by saying “I am a gay rapper.” Within the cultural zeitgeist, statements she has made and her infamous instagram lives have created a ‘memeable’ universe for her fans, many being women, LGBTQ+ individuals, or people of color. Those fans, called “Barbz”, have been known to be an extremely strong and loyal fanbase, commending Minaj for standing out in an industry that pushes women down. However, Minaj’s recent actions have caused a divide between her and her Barbz.
One of Minaj’s major downfalls as an artist had nothing to do with her music, but with who she has surrounded herself with. Her husband, Kenneth Petty whom she married in 2019, was convicted on attempted rape charged in 1995. In 2022, Petty was sentenced to one year of house arrest along with three years of probation and a $55,000 fine for failing to register as a sex offender in California.
He then violated that probation in 2023. After the 2022 conviction, Minaj quickly went to defend her husband, especially on her Instagram livestreams. She frequently goes on live with her husband, shutting down any negative comments. She simply doesn’t care about his past conviction and was even accused of contacting the victim of Petty’s crime in an attempt to bribe her and her family and conceal the story. This harassment was so intense that the woman Petty was convicted of attacking sued Minaj and Petty in 2021.
Fast forward to 2026 and Minaj’s public image, specifically in reference to human rights and politics, has come a far way from 2010.
Someone who the public thought was for the girls and gays, began to support Donald Trump, our current president who is known for his distain for the LGBTQ+ community, among other things.
She has also partnered with Turning Point USA, which advocates for conservative viewpoints and issues. In 2025, she spoke with Erika Kirk from Turning Point USA, the widow of Charlie Kirk who was a very influential figure in the conservative political landscape. During this talk, the old Nicki, the one who stood up for her queer fans and made them feel seen, spoke out against them and their community. She made transphobic comments and bashed California Governor Gavin Newsom for his views on trans rights.
She encouraged young men to look up to people like President Trump, who has been held civilly liable for sexual misconduct and has been accused of further harassment. Minaj stated that, “Boys be boys… its ok to be boys,” which went viral on virtually all American used social media platforms, with fans absolutely disgusted and outraged.
This comment insinuates that the new found social changes surrounding men and their emotional development as humans as well as the dismissal of toxic masculinity are damaging to young men. That is ironic being that those comments in particular are damaging to her own fanbase, mostly made up of queer people, women, and young people, as well as to those very “boys” themselves. Promoting regression of social change, especially that in young men, can be detrimental to younger generations who are already tasked with learning from prior generations of what not to do as a man.
Fans of Nicki Minaj were devastated after hearing those comments from a woman who had been inspirational to children in the 2000s who are now growing into their adulthood. Though she didn’t invent these conservative talking points, seeing her, an influential black woman agreeing with them stuck with her fans in the worst way possible. As someone who grew up listening to “Superbass” and “Anaconda”, feeling like Nicki was who every woman wanted to be like – confident, witty, never letting a man dominate her space, being unapologetically her.
Now, Nicki is gone, and fans have nothing left to appreciate but her old personality and music. Separating the art from the artist was never something Barbz were good at. Now she’s only listened to for the nostalgia factor with a caveat of having to insist that you don’t agree with any of her political views.
Katie Phucas is a sophomore Individualized Studies major at UMBC, and an Opinions reporter for The Retriever. Contact Katie at kphucas1@umbc.edu
