‘American Idol’ Producers Blame Mariah Carey For Nicki Minaj Feud

Published: Sunday 2nd Apr 2017 by Sam

While the final years of ‘American Idol’ didn’t yield memorable winners, it did on occasion produce legitimate OMG moments.

Case in point, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj‘s shocking feud.

Brought to mass attention when a video of the pair arguing at an early audition “leaked,” the beef slow-cooked for all to see over the course of the entire season.

Much ado has been made about the divas weekly duels, with Carey going as for as to say “it was like working with Satan in hell.”

However, with the show in rearview, former producers are speaking up and out. And we’re not sure Mimi will be too pleased.

Full story below…

Speaking about the Idol’s 15-season run at a recent panel, Mark Darnell –  FOX’s former President Of Alternative Programming – said:

“The one you think was the problem—she wasn’t the problem.”

Nigel Lythgoe, who many will remember for producing the ‘Idol, candidly chimed in adding:

“Nicki was not the problem…There are tapes buried in chainsaw.”

Meow.

The drama is a well-treaded topic. Some sources cite Nicki as being threatening while others cite Mariah as becoming problematic after discovering she wouldn’t be the only female on the panel – as was initially promised.

Yet, with folk who actually worked the show now sharing their two cents, it definitely makes for an interesting new angle.

Whatever the case, we’re not especially fussed about who started what. Especially given the golden moments that were…

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: Getty]

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  1. Welp… April 2, 2017

    I wish they would’ve came out and said this before hand but honestly it doesn’t matter because mfs still gone hate Nicki.

    • Mariah Carey April 2, 2017

      Who?

    • Rose April 2, 2017

      Nicki has people doing damage control please leave Mimi alone we know Mariah is who she is but nicki is a fraud I’m surprise hip hop claiming her

    • .LISA LEVINE April 3, 2017

      Everyone in the industry agrees: NICKI’s attitude SUCKS. She is a nasty individual. Americal Idol producers caused this DRAMA by pulling a fast one over Mariah. Mariah in turned SLAYed the panel and just like Whitney or Aretha would have done. fyi: Jennifer Lopez SUCKED as a judge.

  2. Mariah Carey April 2, 2017

    Ugh Nigella dahhhhhing you are so bleak! I thought it was going to be a 3 person panel and then it turned into this whole circus act dahhling! You are a sad lady miss Nigella!
    Anyway dahhlings, back to dem kids! #LYM ??

    • Fancy BISH April 2, 2017

      lol yaaaaaaaaaaaas

  3. Mechelle April 2, 2017

    You wanna say this how many years later? You disrespected Mariah Carey by sitting her next to trash after you wrote her cheque. No wonder she was offended and of course she wasn’t happy. It was a singing competition. She was the only female judge required.

    • April 2, 2017

      who are you to call anyone trash, mariah wanted Nicki to kiss the ring like the pleb she took her for, and when nicki didn’t she lost her sh!t and went ofter Nicki, and because Nicki is just a rapper and Mariah already know that if she start a feud Nicki is going to get the blame so she did it and so said so done, i and other new it was Mariah who started the nonsense and was looking down on Nicki, and Because Nicki know she is some body and a human like everyone else, she didn’t bend to mariah disrespect and be acting like Mraiah is above her in life Mariah and her fans didn’t like that, so said so done her you are know calling Nicki trash this is the attitude nick face and she stood her ground and yall didn’t like it, nuff respect to Nicki for no acting like a little pleb which yall wanted her to do.

      • Cupid April 2, 2017

        I didn’t read all but most of what I read I agree!! Mariah disgusted me on Idol!

      • OMG Logic!!! April 2, 2017

        But Onika is a pleb and she should have kissed the ground that Mariah walked on…

    • Kamaria April 2, 2017

      The f*** wrong with Mariah Carey she the best b**** out of all y’all get the f*** on

  4. Career Ender April 2, 2017

    we all new
    .
    Nicki loved Mariah, why would she have beef with a legend
    .
    Mariah started the nasty beef cos she wanted to be the only female on the judging panel

    • FAF April 2, 2017

      I mean this was so obvious

      Nicki was Brand new to the game just being mainstream less than two years

      Mariah didn’t want to sit with her

      And Nicki got tired and popped

      But these are the same ppl who say because she has no Grammy she couldn’t judge

      But she still did so who gives a f*** about their opinion

    • Jimmie April 2, 2017

      Hold up American Idol is a f****** lie how it actually started out was they lied to Mariah Carey by saying thatshe was supposedly to be only female on the judging panel but after she had already signed the contract they throw in Nicki Minaj unknowingly to Mariah until the very last minute so she couldn’t back out if it. Also Mariah felt that Nicki shouldn’t have been a judge because it was about judging music not hip hop. And i agree with her in that but the crew members wws telling all these lies to Nicki saying Mariah said this and that. Nicki Minaj problem was the fact that Mariah wasn’t being playful and stuff as she was in the up out my face remix video well duh Nick8 it wasn’t her set she came to do business and get that check not to play around tf you mean ?

      • Caleb April 2, 2017

        So why does Mariah feel she is entitled to be the only female judge? The male judges don’t care that there are other males on the panel do they? And the show has a history of non singers being judges. Simon cowel land randy Jackson for starters. So Wtf was her problem?

      • LMAOLOL April 4, 2017

        @Caleb Probably because whe J Lo was the judge there wasnt any other female judge. I guess she wanted the same situation.

    • Mariah Carey April 2, 2017

      The only nasty beef is Nicki’s behind dahhhling!!!

  5. Career Ender April 2, 2017

    Mariah asked Nicki to collab with her on her “up out my face”.

    .
    i even remember her tweeting “Happy Pink Friday Barb Nicki”
    .
    only to not want her on American Idols
    .
    she’s a fake bxcth for that!!!!

    • FAF April 2, 2017

      And she said pink Friday was a “good name dahhling”

  6. Career Ender April 2, 2017

    Mariah doesn’t like other female popstars, that’s why she only collaborated with Whitney only

    • JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

      Only????? She has collaborated with greatness like Patti Labelle or Aretha Franklin too. It´s not like we can mention many female duets Beyonce has done, can we? Just keep it cute. Mariah is a superstar that wants it her way, same way beyonce has calculated her every single move in her career. They promised her she was being teh judge along with teh othe rtwo. Suddenly she had to stay tehre despite them adding Nicki. It was not cute on tehir part, and Mariah is too big for those type of games. Of course she doesn´t want to be overshadowed. But it was their fault (not Nicki´s either).

      • I can’t April 2, 2017

        @JOHNVIDAL ‘Tis true. I think Mariah simply knows how great she is, and she acts like it. And I don’t see the problem with it. She knows that everyone is not her level and so did Whitney. As did Patti and Aretha. I do think though, That by the time Beyonce started her solo career, we’ve since had a shortage of female powerhouses. In the last 10 years, If Beyoncé had wanted to do an epic female duet like Mariah did, with popular vocalists that rival her, I don’t know who could have accompanied her. She’d have to pursue singers from before the 2000s. Right now, Adele, maybe, but she hasn’t been in the game that long and I can’t think of one feature Adele has done. I appreciate Gaga’s vocal talent, but Gaga was still making pop music when Video Phone and Telephone was done. If Beyonce wanted to do a song with the kind of star power and talent like Mariah did, she sure didn’t and honestly still doesn’t have many options. Not from this decade. It is a shame how unnecessary it is to know how to sing to be a successful singer these days. I am still crossing my fingers for a Beyonce/Mariah duet tho… ??????

      • JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

        I´m sure she could find some options if she wanted too. Hell, Lady Gaga already did a duet with Xtina Aguilera now that you mention both. And neither of them were afraid or were overshadowed by the other. Beyonce likes to be the star. I find that normal but I´m having a surprising moment eher seeing some Beyonce fans trying to come for Mariah for the same things Beyonce clearly suffers from too.

        Also, no, a duet like the titanic ones we saw in the 90s may not happen ever again. Not just because there is no one to do it with Beyonce though, but because Beyonce herself is not worthy of such tremendous vocal standards. It keeps being a little bit hilarious to me how some people want to pass Beyonce as the best singer ever, the best performer, the best album-maker out there and the best everything…. 🙂 🙂 🙂
        Put simply, there´s noone in maisntream now that can do a Barbra and Celine´s “Tell Him” type of hair-raising duet. Noone has such beautiful and “full-package” type of voices.

      • DLOC April 2, 2017

        Adding the fourth judge was the big mistake they never repeated again.

    • Stephy April 2, 2017

      Doesn’t like other female pop acts? Is that why she praises Beyonka’s ass every five mintues and has given praise multiple times to pop female giants like Rihanna & Lady Gaga?

      • Kelly Ann April 2, 2017

        @Stephy
        I think she may have only praised Rihanna and Gaga because they’re not as vocally blessed as she…

        @I can’t says
        I think if Bey wanted to do a epic duet with someone it would have to be Xtina. She’s the only person that could keep up with her. Granted Christina would have to control herself.

      • Lindsey April 2, 2017

        I don’t think it’s Mariah that thinks she’s a better singer than everyone else. I think she has shown her vulnerability over and over throughout her career. I don’t think she’s perfect; she’s a human being. I do think the issue here was that as soon as Nicki was brought on after Mariah’s contract was signed, she immediately knew what was happening. She and Nicki were pitted against each other. The judges were “cast” to get a desired effect to boost show ratings. And when an issue arose they banked on it. Everyday people & families pit people against each other all the time. The producers knew their personalities & how to bring out the worst in them. I’m not saying they didnt make mistakes,we all do. They could’ve chosen to ignore each other & not stoop to that level. But, no one really knows who they are personally, or exactly what happened
        here, only what we saw on screen. They may not all have been treated equally. I don’t think it’s wise for an employer to treat their employees in this manner. Its all about their bottom line. Show business is tough.

    • Pam April 2, 2017

      They were tricked into collaborating with each other. Whitney was told Mariah wanted to collab with her and Mariah was told the exact thing so they wouldn’t say no. A producer later said this after Whitney died.

      • TM April 2, 2017

        A producer didn’t need to say that considering both Mariah and Whitney mentioned it 100x during the same year the made that song.

  7. ThatBi$h April 2, 2017

    I wonder how much she paid for this article? Thatgrapejuice is pretty cheap, so I’ll say 5-7k. Am I Right?
    I mean why would anyone bring this up in 2017? Nickis image is damaged and she doesn’t have 8 figures in her bank account and is blacklisted by the whole industry

    • BEY>RIH April 2, 2017

      How much figures does she have then? Because 8 figures is 10 mil or more and I think she has way more than that in the bank ?

  8. ThatBi$h April 2, 2017

    I wonder how much she paid for this article? Thatgrapejuice is pretty cheap, so I’ll say 5-7k. Am I Right?
    I mean why would anyone bring this up in 2017? Nickis image is damaged and she doesn’t have 8 figures in her bank account and is blacklisted by the whole industry lmao

  9. baby monster April 2, 2017

    Mariah is such an insecure hater

    • MinajxBaby April 2, 2017

      She’s fat af toooo

    • emanuel April 3, 2017

      Mariah is a diva, a vocal legend. Her attitude in situations like this is the same as Whitney, Aretha, Pattie, etc. She is not perfect but she is not always the villain either. Some people take everything too seriously.

  10. S****** Blonde April 2, 2017

    I thought this was known by literally everyone who watched the show, Mariah is a great artist, a legend but she can be unbearable sometimes, her behavior is too over te top, when someone disrespects/reacts like Nicki did, is because she couldn’t take it anymore, it was too much of “I’m superior, you’re inferior” attitude, In all honestly, Mariah is lucky that Nicki didn’t sweeped the floor with her her.

    • JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

      I agree Mariah and Madonna are very very resentful and shady. That said, you don´t know if nicki had a nice attitude or not. All I know is when Kelly Clarkson visited the show, she praised Mariah´s talent and Mariah´s behaviour, not Nicki´s.

    • OMG Logic!!! April 2, 2017

      Bye b1tch! Mariah would have taken off those heels and dragged Onika by her nasty weave real quick if it came down to it.

      • Ciah’s Turtle April 3, 2017

        She would’ve hired more security..just like she did.

  11. Ask4yall April 2, 2017

    Queen of rap

  12. CrimsonREDD April 2, 2017

    Okay and? Nicki has had more beefs with entertainers in 7 years than Mariah has 25+ years. From Steven Tyler, Cher, Kim, Iggy, Miley, that Abraham w**** from T*** mom, Cardi B, etc. Nicki has swagger jacked looks from Gaga, Kim and yes even Remy. She ain’t innocent whatsoever. So stop deflecting you wishful thinking barbz, this article won’t make Nicki any less a b**** and won’t change the fact she still got bodied on shEther or unflop all her #3PackFromParis singles or still won’t change the fact she doesn’t have a #1 hit on hot100, which is very hard to get not everyone has those to their credit!

  13. Scan April 2, 2017

    Is this News? Everybody knew Mariah hated being paired with her.. she said herself they told her she was the only female, but was thrown off when Nicki showed up.. this is old.. But.. Nicki has a smart disrespectful mouth.. and the last person that should have been on that show. Its a singing show.. not rapping… icki cant sing.

    • Ronnie April 2, 2017

      Tbh Nicki was the best judge that season. Mariah didn’t add much of anything to the panel.

      • DLOC April 2, 2017

        Mariah was the ONLY judge to pick the eventual winner Candice Glover! Mariah was the pro, Nicki was the late …

  14. Gee April 2, 2017

    This is so lame now that MC has expressed that it was one of the worst experiences in her life now that the show is over and could not produce great ratings even after they brought back the three person panel right after season 12 just shows the general audience was over the AI machine, also the producers are mad at MC for saying how she really felt point blank end of story. Nigel and company need to move on and leave this bs where it is in the past.

  15. JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

    How is this news now? LOL

  16. Fifi April 2, 2017

    This is not rocket science! Nicki Minaj was a fan of Mariah and was excited about teaming up with her. Mariah was upset that she wasn’t the only female (diva), got jealous, stated f****** with nicki and then checked her because she isn’t a pushover. I love Mariah, but even a lamb knew it was her being a diva and never giving Nicki a shot, just because she is another female.

  17. Stephy April 2, 2017

    5 years too late…. NEXT!

  18. The One April 2, 2017

    Mariah simply saw Nikki for the fake ghetto trash she is!!
    Nikki has has so many issues with people in the industry at this point, so I’m not buying MC was at fault here.
    They are mad that Mariah called them out like the Boss she is!!!

  19. Stephy April 2, 2017

    From what I’ve seen, Mariah & Randy didn’t like the advice Nicki was giving the contestants. And was kinda talking DOWN on Nicki as if she didn’t know what she was talking about. Onigga got pissed and fired back at Mariah and Randy, but mostly at Mariah. Because she knew better than to come fro Randy. But if you peek the clips, Randy was throwing hella shade at Nicki as well. Lmfaooo

  20. Career Ender April 2, 2017

    @Johnvidal
    .
    Beyonce has collaborated with many females , more than your faves!
    .
    Shakira, Alicia Keys , MJB, Gaga, Nicki and Missy so bye!

    .
    your faves could never xos they don like other females!

    • Cough Cough April 2, 2017

      Mariah has collaborated with Missy, da brat, xscape,Whitney, MJB, nicki, Kelly price, Aretha, patti, Diana….

    • JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

      Career Ender
      I´m sorry I don´t want to come for Beyonce, it is not that (and you know I defend her when I have to). But you were the one showing stupidity this time cos Mariah Carey has collaborated with many female icons: Whitney Houston, Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin alone are enough proof, although there is more (including the very same MJB, Nicki or Missy you mentioned). The examples you gave with Bey collabos are a joke, mainly cos none of them are of the enormous vocal caliber the ones Mariah has collaborated with are, which is the situation one could think a singer may be afraid of being overshadowed. So by your logic Beyonce is the one who doesn´t want any vocalist to overshadow her cos she has never done one of THOSE types of duets, never. I guess she stopped going for that once Jennifer Hudson got all the shine for that irrelevant movie they did together:) That said, Mariah has done more duets with male overall I think. But it is normal since that has always been the case in music history, female.male duets are so much more common than same-s** duets 🙂 much much more.
      Oh and when you said “my faves” in plural… are you serious? Cos Whitney and Celine have collaborated basically with everybody great that you can think of, male or female, and both so humble. Beyonce is a little bit more like Mariah on that front. Beyonce has always calculated her every move, to the point of not giving interviews cos she knows she has everything to lose when she talks 🙂

      • Blank April 5, 2017

        If you knew anything about Dreamgirls, you would know that Jennifer’s character Effie was always the star of Dreamgirls! Beyonce was the big name added to put asses in the seats along with Jamie Foxx & Eddie Murphy! Beyonce did collaborations with those women on uptempos except MIN! If she was really vain, wouldn’t she have done it on ballads if she wanted to outshine them vocally?

  21. MinajxBaby April 2, 2017

    Mariah is a sorry ass wannabe black B****.

    • OMG Logic!!! April 2, 2017

      Mariah is a legendary vocalist. Onika is wannabe rapper. Stay bitter b1tch.

    • Tim Brown April 2, 2017

      I guess her appearing on Latino magazine a few times is not good enough for some of you folks… -_-

  22. eric April 2, 2017

    The producers were the problem before Nicki and Mariah made it about their egos.

    • JOHNVIDAL April 2, 2017

      Exactly.

  23. Cough Cough April 2, 2017

    Why wouldn’t mariah be offended? As one of the greatest voices in history, having some little auto tuned, lil kim clone sitting next to you trying to give valid opinions to VOCALISTS is really a joke. What advice can a non singing ass chick give to a singer.? Really, not much. I’d be insulted too

    • XoMoDe April 3, 2017

      Mariah was “offended” because she wanted to be the center of attention. Doesn’t matter who was the “vocalist,” what mattered was who was hotter at the moment…and we all know that Nicki is contemporary and Mariah is not. Nicki was younger, hotter and more in demand. THAT was why Carey was threatened. It’s hilarious that you’re all trying to act like this was a matter of vocation and knowledge. It wasn’t. Are Keith Urban and Randy Jackson as good of singers as Mariah? This was a matter of a aging pop star, thinking that this gig would reinvigorate her DWINDLING career and seeing that hope disrupted by someone sitting next to her who was actually relevant at the moment, and knowing if there was any reward to being on that silly show, SHE would get it instead.

      • emanuel April 3, 2017

        Mariah was upset that they fooled her. They never told her it was a 4 panel thing. They hide nicki until Mariah signed the contract. That’s not an honest way to make business.

  24. Mar April 2, 2017

    Judging by the clips I’ve watched, as I didn’t watch American Idol much in its later years ( but the first run I remember well,still remember the night of its debut) Nicki Minaj seemed to interject at the most awkward moments. Regardless if they didn’t get along it’s a job. That shouldn’t have read while they were being filmed. American Idol became soo scripted in its later seasons, a total different show from what it began as.

  25. Theman April 2, 2017

    This is bullshyt. They went behind Mariah & hired Nicki, when they told her that she would be the only female. This show is washed.

  26. @ASAPicon April 2, 2017

    Nicki was cornered, And they were bullies to her.

  27. Samsung brought my albums April 2, 2017

    Is this y moo put shenehneh on i dont?

  28. Mark111 /.\ April 2, 2017

    Clearly.

  29. Louise_1 April 2, 2017

    Nicki is a pure witch in my opinion. Look at how she has always hated on Iggy. Its just that Iggy chose to ignore her.

  30. Leo April 3, 2017

    Mariah think Only her the female judge And this witch came up …. you know Nicky didnt have any reward compare to the legend Mariah … she couldnt even sing properly ….

    • Ciah’s Turtle April 3, 2017

      Mariah can’t sing properly any longer.

      • emanuel April 3, 2017

        Mariah can still sing. And all the knowledge she has about singing is still there. So her credibility as a singing judge is far bigger.

  31. I MightNate April 3, 2017

    How is it that Mariah’s jealous? Paula Abdul & jlo got to be the only female on the panel..All of a sudden, when it’s Mariah’s turn, they want to pick a fourth judge who doesnt even sing! Of course Mariah looked at them sideways when she realized she was workimg in the zoo.

  32. J James April 3, 2017

    I never liked Nikki Nikki sucks she’s fake she’s plastic she don’t be long and Hip Hop she don’t deserve to be in hip hop and I wish she would step face-to-face with Remy Ma see what happens

  33. Jam Tuesday those dayz April 3, 2017

    Oh well they can care less about it and artist start mess all the times it been going on for a long time

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