The mood is getting a little, um, ratchet at American Idol. As TMZ reports, auditions in Charlotte, North Carolina were shut down yesterday when bickering broke out between judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.
“I told them I’m not fucking putting up with her fucking highness over there,” Minaj appears to shout while Keith Urban throws up his hands, caught between Nicki’s nasal caw and Mariah’s sassy pointer finger.
TMZ has video of the incident (below), but the audio is murky, so the quotes are theirs. They also claim an inside source heard the Young Money rapper threatening to knock out her R&B elder, so … grain of salt.
Of course, the gossip site has been doggedly breaking Nicki-Mariah feud news since Minaj’s involvement was a rumor. They claimed Carey hung up on Idol producers when she heard the news, and reported a spat at New York auditions too.
Host Ryan Seacrest broke down the judges’ rapport to NBC’s Today (via Hollywood Reporter) last month: “Nicki and Mariah, two very different, strong, powerful successful women on the panel, there are not too many dull moments between the two of them. But at the end of the day, we all hug and laugh and go home and get ready for another day. They get along fine but they’re strong and candid in their opinion.”
In the video, Randy Jackson attempts to calm things down, while Carey talks over Minaj, who, again according to TMZ, rants, “Don’t call me a gangster … I’m not gonna sit here … to have you come down and harass me every minute everyday.”
More classy behavior from Young Money, whose founder recently threatened a lawyer in court.
