Chapter Nine | Articles II

Chapter Nine | Articles II

Nicki Minaj Slams 'Messy' BET Awards for Reported Low Ratings After Network Seemingly Dissed Her

Don't expect Nicki Minaj to make an appearance on BET any time soon.

The rapper, 36, called out the the network in response to a tweet from the account @musicnewsfacts claiming Sunday's BET Award Show earned the lowest ratings in the show's history, with a reported 2 million views.

"When u go out of ur way to b spiteful & hurt artists who have always supported ur show... when you fire great ppl who have put their heart & soul into the show... when you'd rather be a messy reality show than a prestigious award show... when ur still being dragged by that lace," Minaj wrote on Twitter.

However, on Thursday, BET released its 2019 ratings via Nielsen, revealing the BET Awards claimed the No. 1 spot for the fifth consecutive year, drawing in 12.7 million total viewers.

Fans and followers praised the Queens nave — whose music video for "Megatron" premiered June 20 — in the comment section.

One user wrote, "THATS THE F—ING TEA LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I think it's great you speak out. People wanna label you as bitter or a bitch, but if someone doesn't speak up — the clownery will continue."

Another said: "Sad part is it won't be until well into the next generation of music that people will feel the weight of her words.. and how hard she tried to advocate for EVERYONE 😔"

Minaj, who was nominated for best female hip-hop artist this year, skipped Sunday's show after she memorably dropped out of two scheduled BET events in February after the network seemingly insulted her on social media.BET referenced the Queen rapper while congratulating Cardi B — with whom Minaj infamously brawled during New York Fashion Week last fall — for becoming the first solo woman to ever win best rap album at the 2019 Grammy Awards in a post that read: "Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj is being dragged by her lacefront."

Minaj swiftly responded by cancelling her BET commitments.

"Young Money will no longer be apart of the BET Experience or award show," she Tweeted with hearts and a praying hand emoji. "Summer Tour dates dropping soon."

The network later apologized.

"BET loves Nicki Minaj. We have supported her from the very beginning of her career and will continue to do so moving forward," representatives for the network told PEOPLE in a statement at the time. "Nicki has paved the way for so many performers and has solidified her place as one of the most powerful figures in the music industry. Unfortunately the respect we have for Nicki was violated by this post that should never have been written. The post does not reflect how we feel about Nicki. And further does not reflect our company values.

The BET statement continued: "We deeply apologize for the hurt, disappointment and confusion that this post has caused. We are committed to doing everything we can to address the situation. We are also conducting an internal audit to assure these types of posts are not published again. We have apologized to Nicki and her team. The post has been removed and we have taken additional appropriate action. We understand Nicki's position and look forward to continuing our dialogue with her. Finally, we apologize to all of her fans. This should have never happened."

Nicki Minaj Name Drops Taylor Swift While Defending Her Impact on Music Industry

Nicki Minaj is reflecting on her career in a powerful post on social media.

The "Good Form" superstar took to Instagram on Friday to mark the 12th anniversary of the release of her first mixtape.

"12 years ago I dropped my 1st mixtape. Wrote every single word on every single song. I was so proud of that," Minaj began. "Eventually the barbz were all wearing pink hair, Chinese bangs, & Barbie chains. Colorful wigs came all the way back in style. Everyone became Barbies & Dolls."

"I always shouted out my influences in my interviews. Now a days, it's become cool to pretend u weren't influenced by other artists," the Grammy nominee continued. "S/O to the ones big enough to do it: Kash, Asian, Cuban, Saweetie, Meg, Malibu, YOUNG MA, Ms. Banks, Lady Leshurr, etc. No female rapper (other than Trina) did a song w/me or congratulated me on my billboard accomplishments."

Minaj said she "didn't mind" and that she "never felt they were obligated" to do so, adding, "Just like Beyoncé isn't obligated to congratulate or collaborate with Normani, etc."

"I never had a crusade by radio stations, influencers & blogs to make my song number 1 when Anaconda was #2 on the Hot 100," Minaj went on to write. "I never had a group of men in the studio writing my songs for me so it took a while between albums. Please stop these write ups about what I didn't do. Y'all are rlly sick & ima call y'all out one by one on Queen Radio. Most of yall doing these write ups have never fought for anything in life. You just sit on the sidelines & watch the doers do!!!!"

Minaj concluded her post with a shout-out to her supporters, writing, "To my fans; I love, cherish you, adore you, and thank you. God bless you."

She later followed up in the comments, "Lady Luck was before me so she inspired ME."

Minaj also returned to her post to reply to critical comments, captured by The Shade Room. In response to a social media user who wrote that Minaj "has got to stop these rants," the superstar rapper replied, "Eat a dick. Blocked for being fkng dumb & wanting black women to keep being afraid of speaking their truth."

The 36-year-old star went on to reference Taylor Swift, who recently took to Tumblr to address her own music battle, writing, "Taylor Swift can speak but I can't?!"

Minaj also replied to an Instagram user who said she had to shout-out Lil' Kim, commenting, "I shouted her out in all my early interviews."

She also added that she "recreated" Kim's pose "as a sign of paying homage."

Roman Reigns Says He Is Proud To Be Teaming With "Original Big Dog" The Undertaker

Roman Reigns has shared how proud he is to be teaming with the "original Big Dog," The Undertaker, at this Sunday's Extreme Rules event.

Following his victory over Dolph Ziggler on last night's SmackDown Live, Roman Reigns caught up with Kayla Braxton in a backstage interview.

Despite his busy week, Reigns stresses how proud he is to be teaming with the "original Big Dog" The Undertaker at Extreme Rules.

The ESPN ESPYs Awards, the Hobbs & Shaw premiere, and then, finally, WWE's Extreme Rules on Sunday are all on his agenda. To him though, that's just the "life of the Big Dog."

"The fact that I am teaming up with the original Big Dog, The Dead Man himself, I'm so proud," he said. "We went to battle in that main event years ago, and I had so much respect, it was hard for me, it was so emotional. I wasn't even ready for that type of—something that deep at that point...but to be able to come back full circle and team up with him, the legend himself, the locker room leader for decades. It's really cool, but I got a crazy week [coming up].

"I'm about to head to LA, I got the ESPYs, I got the 'Hobbs and Shaw" premiere on Saturday, jumping on a red-eye right back to Philly, into Extreme Rules," he explains. "That's the life of the Big Dog right there, man. So, I'm just going to take advantage, live in the moment, enjoy this week and kick a lot of ass on Sunday."

Roman Reigns will team up with The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred tag team match. They face off against Shane McMahon and Drew Galloway this Sunday. Extreme Rules takes place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.