On Sunday, after Cardi B made history in becoming the first female solo act to win Best Rap Album, BET fired off a tweet congratulating the Bronx-bred rap star on her historical feat. But, in its attempt to celebrate Cardi, the platform simultaneously shaded her arch nemisis, Nicki Minaj.
“Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj is being dragged by her lace front,” the tweet read, while the link directed users to an article about Cardi’s win.
The following afternoon, Nicki Minaj took to Twitter to announce that she and the rest of the Young Money team would no longer perform at this year’s BET Awards and BET Experience, where she was scheduled to headline. She also shared a few tweets from her fans, which allegedly included a photo of the BET employee in question – as Barbz pulled the woman’s phone number and address.
As the backlash continued, BET released a statement, apologizing for the entire ordeal.
“BET loves Nicki Minaj,” the outlet wrote. “We have supported her from the very beginning of her career and will continue to do so moving forward. 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. 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.”
