As Essence Fest continues throughout the weekend in New Orleans, Friday night turned some heads this year, most notably Nicki Minaj throwing shade at Kanye West mid-performance.
While viewers at home missed the moment after Hulu cut her headlining act from their livestream, Minaj stopped in the middle of rapping her iconic verse of Ye’s classic hit Monster to say, “I’m Monster’d out… and we don’t f— with clowns.”
The diss has many speculating it was due to Ye’s feature on
Cardi B’s latest single Hot S—, which dropped the same day.Fans who tuned in for the livestream were especially upset because the Super Bass rapper was plastered on Essence and Hulu’s promo to attract viewers, only to be told her performance would not be available.
“Nah because this is so messed up, Hulu and essence has been promoting all week saying we’ll be to see Nicki Minaj LIVE on stream.. it seems like they sued us for interactions once again,” expressed a fan.
“Hulu and Essence Fest — y’all are going to hell for not showing Nicki Minaj when you know that’s the only reason we’re watching,” said another user.
“not essence cancelling nicki live.. they definitely used us for views,” a third fan commented.
However, fans weren’t left with nothing thanks to concertgoers who uploaded videos to social media. As for Minaj, she wasn’t off the hook, many pointing out she is married to a convicted sex offender, her brother is a convicted pedophile, and her collaborations with rapper 6ix9ine, formerly known as Tekashi69, another known sex predator.
The festival continues tonight, with performances by the Isley Brothers, The Roots & Friends: Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon the Chef, City Girls, Tems, and headliner New Edition.