Throughout her career, Nicki Minaj has seemed to take pride in being controversial. From her lyrics to her style to her husband, someone's always getting offended over something in the rapper's life.
That's not to say the criticism is warranted in every case. But whenever Nicki's name comes up, there are sure to be some interesting headlines, another celebrity feud to follow, and even a bit of backlash from fans.
While she's recently taken a breather from being in the limelight with the birth of her baby boy, fans have plenty of epic moments to relive while Nicki's busy being a new mom.
For example, the year 2012 involved one significant moment for Minaj. That was the year the rapper debuted her song "Roman Holiday," and she had a special guest that fans started whispering about the moment the pair stepped onto the red carpet.
As Hollywood Reporter confirmed, Nicki brought an older man dressed in an elaborate costume to the 2012 Grammys. That costume was apparently meant to be the garb of a Pope, though critics suggest that Minaj missed the mark in this case.
The man was wearing an ornate outfit, but didn't have the necessary papal headgear and so was "more likely emulating a lower level bishop or something," noted Hollywood Reporter. Regardless of his wardrobe missteps, the hired actor was clearly meant to resemble a member of the Catholic church, and critics were not happy about it.
Though the hired gent's costume played into Nicki's newest rap song, critics were quick to pipe up about the sacrilegious nature of the performance. The event included a rap-confession to the "priest," plus a veritable exorcism of the rapper (while she sang of course).
The entire thing was super showy, high-cost, and really offensive to a lot of people, according to news coverage of the Grammys that year. Plenty of church leaders condoned Nicki's performance, with some religious personalities suggesting that the rapper really was possessed.
TBH, the moment was bigger than Nicki's other dramas, including the long-running (but now ended?) feud with Cardi B. Of course, Minaj may have intended to start all that drama. Any media attention is better than none, right?
And Nicki has a way of keeping herself in the spotlight, even when she's not churning out hit rap songs (or pop crossovers) every other week. After all, it's been many years since that epic Grammys showstopper, and Nicki Minaj is still in the spotlight just as much as ever.
With plenty of fans still in her corner, and her music continuing to rank on every chart, Nicki seems just fine with her past Pope scandal.