Nicki Minaj Receives Backlash During Trip to Trinidad and Tobago

Gettyimages | ANGELA WEISS

Nicki Minaj is not one to miss the Carnival parade in Trinidad. Minaj is from Trinidad and frees her schedule to be in attendance religiously every year. Nicki Minaj showed up looking absolutely glamorous! She wore a blue feathery outfit with sparkly bangles. Her Carnival costume was designed by fabulous designer Diandre Tristan. Minaj’s costume was brought, bold, and hugged all the right parts. In attendance with her was a new husband, Kenneth Petty. Nicki Minaj was seen having a great time; however, her husband’s demeanor caused backlash for some fans in attendance.  

The Carnival is usually filled with lots of dancing, and fans were shocked to see Minaj not as vibrant as usual. Some fans noted that Nicki Minaj was not dancing. Minaj was more or less standing around. She seemed calmer and a little more subdued, although she was still waving & interacting with fans. She seemingly was still having a great time! However, there were a few fans that commented on her social media pages that felt her lack of participation made her look proud.

Gettyimages | Rich Fury

While at the event, Nicki was standing in a booth with her husband Petty with famous Soca artist, Iwer George was trying to interact with Minaj. George seemed to be getting into his performance and just wanted to include Minaj. However, before George could ultimately reach for Minaj, Petty shoved the artist away. Fans immediately took notice and rushed to Instagram and Twitter to confront Minaj. One fan told Minaj to, “Come again, but tell Petty to loosen up a bit.” Nicki Responds, “Oh Gawd, Allyuh like sh** eh? I go cuz all yuh real fkn stink yuh know?. He doesn’t understand anything about our culture. I apologize on his behalf. He’s always in security mode. All love. Love my country to death. Love my ppl to death. Period… I should’ve told him it’s a very comfortable family atmosphere. He’s never been to a carnival in his life. Not even in Brooklyn, babe.” 

Gettyimages | Taylor Hill

Hours later, soca artist George took to Instagram to publically respond, “While singing, I was trying to engage @Nickiminaj to sing the song. I truly feel that her husband did not know who I was, as I was wearing a Tribe Music T-shirt, so he may have thought I was part of the sound system group. Nicki’s husband is not familiar with Trini culture, so he did what any husband would do, which means goes straight into protection mode. We all know in Trini a man must protect his wife, so I didn’t stress about his actions. I just continued to sing my song. Nicki is our queen, and that’s her husband; we love and respect them. Allyuh Pat down and let them enjoy the rest of their stay in Trinidad.” Nicki Minaj responded with a praying hand and heart comment under his post. 

Gettyimages | Jamie McCarthy

The news of this moment spread like wildfire. Nicki took to her social media platforms to defend her husband. Nicki writes on twitter that “People be so bad when they see you happy. Just laugh and keep it pushing. Life is beautiful.” After she went to the festival, Minaj made time to visit the St Jude’s Home. While she was there, she donated $25,000 and gave a televised speech with an encouraging message. Her interview was very enlightening and brought a wave of positive engagement from her fans.