Host Nicki Minaj owns the 2023 VMAs red carpet in pink, bridal-inspired couture

This Barbie did not come to play around.

Commanding center stage as the mesmerizing mistress of ceremonies at 2023’s MTV Video Music Awards, “Queen of Rap” Nicki Minaj stopped the show — before it even started — in a skin-tight pink Dolce & Gabbana corset beneath a sheer, bridal-inspired veil.

“MTV is petrified because they got a couple of calls yesterday. People were saying, ‘What if Nicki says this?,’ and ‘What if Nicki says that?, said the “Barbie World” rhymer, 40, to the whooping horde of pop culture connoisseurs packing out Newark’s Prudential Center on Tuesday night.

“I said, ‘It’s okay MTV, I can control myself– because if you can’t control yourself, you can’t control anything around you,” she continued before joking that her alter ego, Roman, may not be on her best behavior through the night.

Nicki Minaj stunned in a baby pink, corseted body suit and sheer veil at the 2023 MTV VMAs. WireImage Minaj promised to control herself, but joked that her alter ego, Roman, may not behave throughout the nigh. AFP via Getty Images

Ahead of her debut as haute hostess, an enviable designation that’s been bestowed upon her for the second year in a row, the curvaceous Queens native donned the crowd-pleasing bodysuit and paired it with a sultry veil during the VMAs red carpet festivities. 

No stranger to snapping necks, the buxom Minaj boasts an impressive resume of iconic VMAs looks, including the $15,000 gold gown by Labourjoisie she wore to the 2015 fête and the enduringly elegant Dolce & Gabbana number she donned to accept the esteemed Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award during the 2022 production. 

And owing to the “Anaconda” charmer’s many outfit changes during her stint at show host last year, it was safe to say that fashion fanatics were in for an eyeful of voguish revelry as the night progressed.