Nicki Minaj had plenty to say about Donald Trump after Republicans took a beating in the midterm elections. Her 15-point message did not address the nearly $300,000 her former attorneys say she owes.
As she defended the president, a legal fight continued in Los Angeles. Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, the firm that once represented Minaj in a copyright dispute, had just returned to court seeking a $295,605 default judgment over allegedly unpaid legal bills.
The developments came days apart. The firm renewed its request on Tuesday, November 3, while Minaj’s defense of Trump circulated after the election. The political posts are unrelated to the lawsuit, but the timing put both in the spotlight.
Minaj opened her message on X with “Trump is STILL your PRESIDENT,” followed by “The QUEEN is STILL your OBSESSION.” The post came after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, leaving several candidates she had supported on the losing side.
Her response mixed politics, religion, and shade. She congratulated winning candidates, particularly Florida Republicans Anna Paulina Luna and Byron Donalds, praised the vice president, and referenced the killing of Christians. She also took a shot at spending on an unsuccessful celebrity-backed campaign, without identifying the campaign by name.
Then came one of the lines drawing the most attention: “I don’t vote, I VETO.” Minaj, who previously said she was not a U.S. citizen and could not vote in American elections, used the phrase while brushing off criticism of her political involvement.
She ended the initial 13 points by telling followers to stay tuned and stay mad, then added two more. Those entries defended Elon Musk and praised his AI chatbot Grok. The election losses had not changed her stance.
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Meanwhile, her former lawyers were focused on collecting money they say was owed long before the midterms.
According to TheWrap and Rolling Stone, Minaj entered a legal services agreement with Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani in October 2024. The firm defended her against a copyright infringement claim involving her song “I Lied” and Julius Johnson’s track “onmysleeve.” Johnson alleged that Minaj’s recording copied the earlier song’s beat and instrumentation.
That copyright case ended in a confidential settlement and was dismissed. But the law firm alleges its own bill remained unpaid after the underlying dispute was resolved.
The attorneys say they billed Minaj and her company, Harajuku Barbie Music LLC, $229,541.75 for legal work. They later calculated $25,249.51 in contractual late fees, with other requested costs and interest bringing the demand to approximately $295,605.
The firm sued in March 2026. In its latest filing, it claimed the case “has not been responded to in any way by [the rapper].” After the required period following service passed, the attorneys renewed their bid for a default judgment.
A default judgment can be entered when a defendant fails to respond or defend a lawsuit, but it is not automatic proof that every allegation is correct. The $295,605 is a request, not an awarded judgment. A hearing is scheduled for November 16. Minaj’s representatives had not responded to requests for comment from the publications reporting the filing.
The renewed motion was submitted the same day Minaj appeared near a polling location in Derry, New Hampshire. She was photographed near a campaign sign for Trump-backed congressional candidate Anthony DiLorenzo, who ultimately lost to Democrat Stefany Shaheen.
Her campaign appearances had already made headlines. On October 25, Minaj joined Trump at a Michigan rally and led a “We love Trump” chant. Speaking to supporters, she asked, “We don’t want our children to be bombarded with sex changes, right?” and suggested she would support Trump if he sought another term.
Two Republicans she supported in Michigan, Senate candidate Mike Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James, also lost.
Trump responded with his own headline-making comment: “By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before: Nicki Minaj! That’s hard to miss.”
During the same trip, Minaj rode aboard Air Force One and took part in a mock White House press secretary interview. She called Trump a “great guy” and said he had “won three elections,” although his presidential victories came in 2016 and 2024.
This latest fee dispute also follows another expensive legal battle. In January, Minaj avoided the forced sale of her roughly $20 million Hidden Hills home after satisfying a judgment of about $500,000 awarded to a security guard who sued her and her husband, Kenneth Petty, over an alleged backstage assault in Germany in 2019.
For now, Minaj is publicly standing by the president despite Republican setbacks, while her former legal team is pressing ahead with its demand for payment. Her 15-point political defense may have generated the loudest online reaction, but the November 16 hearing could carry consequences that extend beyond social media.
