Nicki Minaj Doubles Down On Homophobic Slur At Don Lemon Before His Arrest
By Afouda Bamidele on January 30, 2026 at 12:30 PM EST
Nicki Minaj to Don Lemon: 'I said what I said!'
The iconic rapper is not mincing words on how she feels about the former CNN personality despite his reaction to the statement and the uproar that followed.
Nicki Minaj has gotten quite busy the past few days, from attending the Trump Account Summits, where she was given the Trump gold card, to showing up at the world premiere of "MELANIA" at the Trump Kennedy Center in Washington.
Nicki Minaj Sent A Message To Don Lemon In Her Latest Podcast Appearance
The rapper sat down with Katy Miller for an episode on her podcast, and in the snippet for the whole episode, which would drop on February 3, she was asked to say a few things to Lemon.
Miller had asked the star: "You called for Don Lemon's arrest over his church stunt in Minneapolis. He since called you racist, unhinged, homophobic, and out of your depth. Anything you'd like to say to Don Lemon?"
Nicki, amid a chuckle, replied: "C-ocksucker stop," as she nodded and faced a laughing Miller to continue their conversation. The short clip, which was posted on Miller's X page, instantly drew an uproar from hundreds of commenters who weighed in on Minaj's behavior.
"I seriously don't know what happened to her… she is such a horrible person," this commenter declared, as another added, "Spitting in the face of most of your fanbase to sell out for people who think your music is bad. What a choice."
A third X user expressed their shock at seeing that Minaj has so many social media followers despite her latest behavior. However, another section of commenters found her reaction hilarious, like this user who wrote: "Love a woman who stands on her feet."[sic]
Don Lemon Slammed The Rapper's Initial Comments About Him Covering The ICE Protests
When Minaj came online a few weeks ago with strong remarks over him reporting on the protest, The Blast shared that Lemon granted an interview, expressing how he felt about the comments.
"Nicki Minaj will do anything that is expedient for her politically. And again, she's ignorant; she doesn't know what she's talking about, and she's always weighing in on things she doesn't know about. Nicki Minaj should sit the f-ck down," the media personality stated.
He further described her as a homophobic person who thinks very lowly of African Americans and loves to dabble in issues beyond her mental threshold. Lemon continued that Minaj does not have an understanding of the ethics of journalism and concluded with advice for her to "grow some brains."
He then sent a shade to her hypocritical behavior of being so homophobic despite being married to Kenneth Petty, a registered sex offender.
What Did Nicki Minaj Say About The Media Personality's Action?
Minaj joined some more social media users to register their displeasure over Lemon's coverage of protesters disrupting a church service where David Easterwood — a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent — is a pastor.
Lemon had shared clips of the protest on social media to the dismay of Minaj, who wrote, "DON 'C-OCK SUCKIN' LEMON IS DISGUSTING. HOW DARE YOU? I WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!! HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ANY OTHER RELIGION. LOCK HIM UP!!!!!" on her X page.
Minaj's remark came shortly after she revealed to Erika Kirk that she felt led to embrace her Christian faith openly and even sent some compliments to Donald Trump and JD Vance's way. She also made a controversial statement about boys being boys during her appearance at the "Turning Point USA" convention.
The Journalist's Legal Team Expressed Their Readiness To Fight His Charges
The Blast stated today that Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles on the charges of interfering with people's right to worship and, by doing so, violating a federal law.
According to The Blast, although Lemon did not participate directly in the protest, he was on the ground to film on January 18 at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The journalist's attorney has now reacted to the development with a firm statement condemning the treatment of his client. In Abbe Lowell's words:
"Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work."
He dragged the United States government for leaving their actual duty of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful protesters in Minnesota; the Justice Department decided to go after people who protested against this development.
"This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court," Lowell concluded.
Don Lemon Had Earlier Clarified His Role In The Protest
On Monday, January 19, Lemon issued a statement to Fox News Digital in response to Attorney General Pam Bondi's warning of slamming charges against the journalist. Bondi was reportedly meeting with federal prosecutors in Minnesota for several days on ways to bring Lemon to book over the protest.
Lemon clarified that he was not the reason the protest occurred; instead, his presence on the scene energized protesters to continue, and most importantly, as against the overwhelming narrative, he was not the only journalist present at the scene.
Insisting the mention of him at the center of the protest was for the wrong reasons, Lemon added: "What's even more telling is the barrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs, directed at me online by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing press."
He urged the people involved to direct the resources used to witchhunt him into "investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good — the very issue that brought people into the streets in the first place."
