Steven Tyler, Nicki Minaj Spar Over “American Idol” Judging
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Michael Becker / FOX(LOS ANGELES) — Everyone else has weighed in on the alleged feud between new American Idol judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, so why not the guy who recently filled one of those seats at the table? Steven Tyler tells MTV that he’s not happy with the reports of friction on the set of Idol.
“I know that they’ve got something going on on the judges’ panel, [and] it shouldn’t be that, it should be just the opposite. They should have something going on, which is called camaraderie,” he said. “They should have something going on so thick and beautiful that they can lay it over the new talent that’s trying to birth itself.”
Tyler explained, “It needs to be birthed, not judged by entertainment factors. It needs to be judged by people that [are] honest, true, that have the ‘it’ factor. Not the ‘it’ factor because they can fight. [What] the f**k is that all about?”
Speaking about the new judges’ abilities to nurture new talent, Tyler, 64, thinks he and fellow former judge Jennifer Lopez are much more capable in that department than, say, Nicki Minaj.
“These kids, they just got out of a car from the Midwest somewhere and they’re in New York City, they’re scared to death. You’re not going to get the best [out of them]. … If it was Bob Dylan, Nicki Minaj would have had him sent to the cornfield,” he said. “Whereas, if it was Bob Dylan with us, we would have brought the best of him out, as we did with Phillip Phillips. Just saying.”
Minaj, 29, responded with a torrent of tweets.
“Steven Tyler said I would have sent Bob Dylan to a cornfield??? Steven, you haven’t seen me judge one single solitary contestant yet!,” she wrote. “I understand you really wanted to keep your job but take that up with the producers. I haven’t done anything to you. That’s a racist comment.”
She continued, “You assume that I wouldn’t have liked Bob Dylan??? why? black? rapper? what? go f**k yourself and worry about yourself babe.”
She ended her tirade by pointing out, “When Steven 1st went on Idol he was ridiculed by his peers & fans alike. Called a sell out. So what does he do? Ridicule the next judge.”
On Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday night, Kimmel asked Ryan Seacrest about Minaj’s static with both Tyler and Carey before him. “Is Nicki Minaj crazy?” Kimmel queried. “Are you worried — are you scared of her?”
Seacrest laughed it off, adding, “I think people are going to be very impressed with how good she is as a judge on the show.”
Kimmel also joked, “If Nicki Minaj pulls you off that stage and beats the life out of you on the air, that show’s is going to be right back, 50 — who knows, maybe even 100 million viewers,” to which Seacrest said gamely, “You know me, anything for the show.”
The new season of American Idol starts Jan. 16.
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