On Sunday, Dec. 4 Nicki Minaj shared an Instagram video of herself talking to a woman on the street in Miami, Florida. In the video, the "Black Barbies" artist is sitting in her car laughing, while the woman is standing on the sidewalk. Ever since sharing the footage, the rapper has received a lot of judgment, so here's why Nicki Minaj is being criticized for the Instagram video. According to Us Weekly, several comments allege that the woman is known in Miami and there are also claims that she is mentally ill. It remains unclear if the woman actually does suffer from a mental illness and what Minaj was aware of when it comes to the woman, if anything, before posting the video on social media. Minaj has yet to comment or remove the video; her rep could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
The woman can be seen yelling at Minaj, who laughs and says, "What did I do? Miss, you look nice. Can we talk?" She captioned the video with a crying emoji face. During the video, a man is also seen approaching Minaj who says he is a big fan and she thanks him by saying, "Thank you, sir." The video then ends with Minaj laughing.
Per Us, one Instagram user commented, "I love how you think this is appropriate to show all the young followers that look up to you. That dehumanizing is ok and bullying... then you have the nerve to laugh... smh." The outlet also reports that another user wrote, "You can clearly tell this woman has [a] mental illness and didn't want to be filmed period. If I was u Nicki I would remove this post, I know u didn't know she was sick."
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI-Miami) released a statement to TMZ on the matter and said, "Nobody would make fun of a cancer patient, and mental illness is an illness like any other." According to TMZ, NAMI-Miami also said that the video is an invasion of privacy and dehumanizes the woman.
Despite the negativity surrounding the video, some have backed Minaj. Us said one Instagram user commented, "I don't think Nicki meant any harm if the woman had come to the car I'm sure Nicki would have given her something probably money." Another person wrote, "Nobody knows what happened before this video or what was said and how are you supposed to know somebody's mental state?? Must be a slow news day."
