A timeline of Nicki Minaj’s biggest controversies and problematic comments

Nicki Minaj and Tekashi 6ix9ine in the music video for “Fefe.” Tekashi 6ix9ine/YouTube

On July 22, 2018, Tekashi 6ix9ine released his new song “Fefe” featuring Minaj and Murda Beatz. Minaj also costarred in the music video alongside 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez.

Minaj was heavily criticized for the collaboration, given Hernandez’s criminal history.

Back in 2015, Hernandez pled guilty to the use of a child in a sexual performance. The crime, which occurred when he was 18 years old, involved a video that he had posted on social media.

The video shows a 13-year-old girl engaging in oral sex with another man, who was charged separately.

Hernandez can be seen standing behind the child, “making a thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking her on the buttocks,” the original complaint reads, per Jezebel. “The child is nude in the video.”

As Business Insider previously reported, new details emerged at Hernandez’s sentencing hearing, regarding a second video that he uploaded online. Assistant District Attorney Sara Weiss told the court that Hernandez appears again with another 13-year-old, fondling her breasts and smacking her butt, while she was being penetrated by two other adult men at the same time.

Hernandez was sentenced to four years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

After the release of “Fefe,” Minaj brushed off the criticism. In a series of posts on X, she claimed that publications were being paid to portray her negatively.

“Shout out to my baby Tekashi. I love him,” she said in a Tidal interview.

The following year, in 2019, Hernandez was publicly accused of domestic violence. His ex-girlfriend, Sara Molina, told the Daily Beast that Hernandez regularly assaulted her during their seven-year relationship. Since then, he has also been convicted of racketeering and sued for allegedly hitting a woman with a champagne bottle at a strip club. 

Not to be deterred, Minaj released a second collaboration with the rapper in 2020 titled “Trollz.”

After receiving another wave of backlash, Minaj said she’s “not afraid of internet trolls, blogs, artists.”

“I don’t jump on band wagons,” she wrote on X. “Many will never know what it feels like to have a mind of their own.”

Shortly after the release of “Trollz,” Hernandez was sued by the alleged victim in the 2015 case for child sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and infliction of emotional distress.