Photo: WENN
The MTV Video Music Award nominations were announced yesterday, and the omission of Nicki Minaj and Beyonce's collaboration 'Feeling Myself' led to a series of disagreements between Minaj and Taylor Swift over the "white media."
Though Minaj received three nominations - Best Female Video and Best Hip Hop Video for 'Anaconda' and Best Collaboration for 'Bang Bang', she wasn't happy that 'Feeling Myself' was left off the list.
The rapper tweeted, "Hey guys @MTV thank you for my nominations. 😘😘😘 Did Feeling Myself miss the deadline or...?" adding, "If I was a different 'kind' of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well."
When the "other" girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
I'm not always confident. Just tired. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it. https://t.co/2xOvJzBXJX
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Despite not mentioning any other female singer by name, Taylor Swift seemed to feel that the implications were clear enough to warrant a response.
@NICKIMINAJ I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015
@NICKIMINAJ If I win, please come up with me!! You're invited to any stage I'm ever on.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015
Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn't say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this. @taylorswift13
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
@taylorswift13 I'm still confused as to why u just tweeted me when I made it abundantly clear... pic.twitter.com/A5kJyi6fQC
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
They're not missing the point, they're just attempting to overshadow the point. Oldest trick in the book. https://t.co/Y4dt1vKk6C
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Nothing I said had to do with Taylor. So what jabs? White media and their tactics. So sad. That's what they want. https://t.co/AfcwoyDvpg
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
I'm so glad u guys get to see how this stuff works. Taylor took her music off spotify and was applauded. We launched Tidal & were dragged.
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Minaj went on to retweet a series of tweets criticising Swift for wading into a debate on racism that needn't have concerned her.
The VMAs aren't the first awards to have accusations of racism levelled against them - this year's Grammys came under fire after every single Best New Artist nominee and Record Of The Year nominee was white.
