BET apologizes to Nicki Minaj after snarky tweet leads to rapper pulling out of BET concert

BET issued a public apology Monday after its Twitter account sent out a snarky tweet about Nicki Minaj, which likely led to the rapper canceling her upcoming BET Experience performance.

Monday’s tweet, which has since been deleted, celebrated Cardi B’s historic Grammy best rap album win while seemingly mocking Minaj for not achieving that feat. On Sunday, Cardi B became the first solo female artist to win in the Grammys’ best rap album category.

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“Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj is being dragged by her lacefont,” the tweet read.

Shortly after the tweet, the "Chun-Li" rapper announced she would no longer participate in the BET Experience, BET's weekend of concerts and events in June.

“Young Money will no longer be apart of the BET Experience or award show,” she tweeted.

Lil’ Wayne was also slated to perform, and he likely will no longer appear, as Young Money is the rapper’s record label.

The network issued an apology on its site, which also noted that executives had privately apologized to Minaj for the offending tweet.

“The post does not reflect how we feel about Nicki. And further does not reflect our company values,” the statement said. “We deeply apologize for the hurt, disappointment and confusion that this post has caused. We are committed to doing everything we can to address the situation.”

According to the statement, the network plans an internal audit to alleviate the rogue tweet issue.

Cardi B reportedly responded to the controversy around her Grammy win and the Nicki Minaj issue in a now-deleted Instagram video.

“I work hard for my (expletive) album,” she said, adding. “I remember last year when I didn’t win for ‘Bodak Yellow’ and everybody was like, ‘Cardi got snubbed.’ ... Now this year's a (expletive) problem?”

The 26-year-old rapper went on saying, “It’s not my style for people to put other people down to uplift somebody else. ... I don't support that.”

Cardi B has since deactivated her Instagram account.

There has been no public response from Minaj since BET issued the apology, but the 36-year-old did thank fans on Twitter for supporting her.

The two rappers had been embroiled in literal and online battles in 2018. At a September Harper's Bazaar party, Minaj and Cardi were involved in a physical altercation. The rappers have also gone back and forth on social media about their respective reigns as the premier female hip-hop artist.

Cox Media Group