Just when you thought Nicki Minaj was ready to play nice with Mariah Carey, the Super Bass singer sniped at her fellow judge on Wednesday’s show, putting on a phony English accent and sarcastically telling Mariah to “Simmer down sir.”
The insult came after finalist Kree Harrison‘s rendition of The Black Crowes’ She Talks to Angels, which Mariah thought was off-the-mark.
“No, I do and I’ll explain,” Nicki said — at which point Mariah tried to interject again — and she told her, “Simmer down, sir.”“I disagree … that was the best performance of the night,” Nicki said, to which Mariah chimed in, “I wasn’t saying she was awkward … you don’t really disagree with me.”
And some fans on Twitter had a similar reaction.
"Why does Nicki Minaj try to start [with] Mariah like she 60x better than you will ever be," one user wrote.
"[Nicki Minaj] need[s] to show some respect to Mariah Carey. Like at least respect each other's opinion. I love you Mariah," one viewer wrote.
Another added: "Lol at [Nicki Minaj] trying to "disagree" [with] Mariah when Mariah was talking about something else."
And though Minaj's many fans tweeted they thought the "sir" comment was funny, the rapper still seemed to offer an olive branch to Carey later in the night. Minaj, possibly in attempt to smooth things over, complimented the music icon's vocal skills at one point.
After Candice Glover's performance of "When You Believe," Minaj talked about the impressive collaboration of the original version of the song, which was performed by Carey and Whitney Houston.
Fans of Carey took the opportunity to gloat about the compliment.
"Today's episode of American Idol just reminded me why Mariah Carey is a queen..like Nicki Minaj just had to show some respect," one user wrote on Twitter.
But others praised the rapper for her kind words.
"Thanks for being "sweet" to Mariah tonight [Nicki Minaj]!" one fan tweeted.
"I agree with Nicki Minaj. For once," another wrote. "She even complimented Mariah. What."
sources 1& 2