Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE
2015 MTV Video Music Awards - Rehearsals

Source: John Shearer / Getty

Nicki Minaj went on a rant, a few weeks ago, where she called the VMA’s racist and discriminatory toward Black bodies. She then said  Black artists, particularly women, often get overlooked, in entertainment as a whole, for the things White artists, who are emulating Black artists, get rewarded for.

Nicki  went on the rant because she felt snubbed by the VMA’s not selecting “Anaconda” for Video of the Year, and “Feeling Myself’ not even getting nominated at all. Taylor Swift felt some type of way and went at Nicki on Twitter. That situation has since been resolved, but now Miley Cyrus, the millennial queen of appropriation, has something to say too. The New York Times  thought it was a good idea to ask Miley Cyrus her thoughts about Minaj’s rant, and she basically pulled the Angry Black Women card.

Here’s a snippet of that Q&A:

What did you make of the Nicki Minaj controversy around the V.M.A.s — that she was upset “Anaconda” wasn’t nominated for Video of the Year?

I saw that. I didn’t really get into it. I know there was some beef. I don’t really know. There’s a way to talk to people …

Do you know what she said?

She was saying that everyone was white and blonde that got nominated, I heard? And then Taylor Swift butted in.

She may have alluded to “Wrecking Ball” also, saying that when a naked white girl breaks a Vevo record she gets nominated.

I didn’t follow it. You know what I always say? Not that this is jealousy, but jealousy does the opposite of what you want it to — that’s a yoga mantra. People forget that the choices that they make and how they treat people in life affect you in a really big way. If you do things with an open heart and you come at things with love, you would be heard and I would respect your statement. But I don’t respect your statement because of the anger that came with it.

And it’s not anger like, “Guys, I’m frustrated about some things that are a bigger issue.”

You made it about you. Not to sound like a bitch, but that’s like, “Eh, I didn’t get my V.M.A.”

But she was ——

If you want to make it about race, there’s a way you could do that. But don’t make it just about yourself. Say: “This is the reason why I think it’s important to be nominated. There’s girls everywhere with this body type.”

I think she did say that ——

What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind. It’s not very polite. I think there’s a way you speak to people with openness and love. You don’t have to start this pop star against pop star war. It became Nicki Minaj and Taylor in a fight, so now the story isn’t even on what you wanted it to be about. Now you’ve just given E! News “Catfight! Taylor and Nicki Go at It.”

I know you can make it seem like, Oh I just don’t understand because I’m a white pop star. I know the statistics. I know what’s going on in the world. But to be honest, I don’t think MTV did that on purpose.

That last bit about knowing the statistics was Miley’s sad attempt at actually seeming like an intersectional feminist after her lame attempt to gaslight Nicki Minaj by saying she wasn’t too kind or polite. Ladies and gentlemen, that was  was a microagression (look it up).

Look, I actually don’t think “Anaconda” was a better video than the videos that are nominated in that category, and Nicki Minaj’s rant seemed inspired more by a sense of entitlement than actual facts (fact being that “Anaconda” wasn’t as remarkable as a video as she may have thought; the cinematography was good, though). However, her motives for the rant don’t change the fact that her statements about the culture are true, and it’s unfortunate that the validity in her statements are being clouded because she used an inopportune time to spark the conversation.

But what Miley, or Taylor Swift, or any of these so clueless White so-called feminists who are guilty of appropriation won’t do, is try to play Nicki out by trying to overlook the larger point she made.

Tuh!

RELATED POSTS

Nicki Minaj Will Open For The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards

Miley Cyrus Is Hosting The VMAs + 2015 Nominations

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.