Photo Credit: FOX

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Although the latest season of “American Idol” has come to an end and a winner was chosen, there’s still plenty of drama going on concerning the fate of the other three judges (Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, and Keith Urban) considering Randy Jackson announced recently that he would not be returning for another season. Nicki Minaj is reportedly not returning to the show and although the female rapper has not confirmed the reports, many suspect that she won’t return because it won’t be a good look for the show to keep her around. However, many at least thought that she would get on the stage and perform during the finale like her peers Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson did, however, Nicki never took the stage. And according to reports, it’s because the execs at “Idol” didn’t want her to and feel that although she is a good judge, she’s just bad for the show’s brand. The Hollywood Reporter writes:

While all three of the judges — Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson — took to the American Idol stage for the Thursday night finale, Nicki Minaj remained a spectator, despite earlier reports that she would perform as well.

In a press conference with reporters, Minaj explained why: “I had already committed to the Billboard Awards for my single ['High School'],” she explained with her signature smirk. “I wasn’t allowed to perform on Idol and Billboard.”

Or could it have been the top brass wanted to sideline the polarizing judge, who many speculate will not return next year? (When asked about judging season 13, Minaj ignored the question.)

“She’s a good judge, but bad for the brand,” said a well-placed source following the finale.

Photo Credit: @nickiminaj Twitter

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Rapper and American Idol judge Nicki Minaj has had a rather interesting time on FOX’s singing competition show, but most of her time on the show has been spent going back and forth with fellow judge Mariah Carey. The two stars have been beefing ever since the beginning of the season, and things got even more explosive between them the other day when Mariah threw the ultimate shade to Nicki on live television about her lack of number one hits on the Billboard 100. The shade led Nicki to take to her Twitter account to slam Mariah and call her insecure and bitter, but it now appears she’s made more enemies thanks to her time on Idol. The other day a reporter from Access Hollywood ripped her to shreds in an article because Nicki reportedly nastily refused to answer her question about the recent Twitter shots she took at Mariah. The reporter, Laura Saltman, writes:

Nicki and Mariah’s not-so-charming banter has included Nicki calling Mariah “sir” two weeks ago after a spat and Wednesday night referring to her as “Honey Boo Boo” as a final slam. For the record, Mariah never heard Nicki’s “sir” comment until after the show aired. When asked about it backstage, she wanted to respond but her publicist smartly told her not too. You see, Mariah is a professional who understands her reputation is everything. She has class. Nicki is another story.

In my 20 years in entertainment news, I have interviewed close to 5,000 celebrities — people who have bigger bragging rights than Nicki. Men and women who have Oscars , Grammys and Emmys. Yet, by far, she is the most ungracious of anyone I have met.

Each week, she comes backstage for interviews and we are told “two questions only” while her people hover over you and even, at times, have their hand on your arm as you end your interview to make you stop. Waiver from the two-question rule and Nicki herself will walk away. She makes zero eye contact and has no connection to whomever is interviewing her. If she likes your question, she may give you a proper answer. If she doesn’t, she may give you a dirty look and walk off. After she posted mean comments about Mariah on Twitter yesterday calling her “bitter” and “insecure,” I wanted to give her the opportunity to redeem herself or perhaps apologize. I phrased my question that her comments had caused quite a stir online and asked if she had anything to say about it. She looked at me and told me my question made no sense and when I tried to explain it further she just said “goodnight” and walked off in a huff.

Nicki Minaj was not amused and took to her Twitter account to drag the reporter. She tweets (read from the bottom up):

Within minutes, the reporter’s mentions were filled with death threats from Nicki’s fans.

Photo Credit: @nickiminaj Twitter

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

American Idol producers thought the show would get a boost with the new judges added to the singing competition’s panel, but instead all of the drama between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey hasn’t helped ratings at all, and some even suggested it only hurt it terribly. Nicki however reportedly feels she’s the most interesting judge on the panel, and although her future on the show is still up in the air, she said she feels she’s doing a spectacular job because she’s always completely honest with the contestants. While some reports suggest the producers of the show feel the show’s demise is mostly because of the fan’s strong dislike of the female rapper, one producer says he believes the ratings are so low not because of Nicki Minaj solely, but because of the panel’s very apparent lack of chemistry. He also feels Nicki and Mariah’s beef made the season start off with a bad start. Nigel Lythgoe tells Zap2It:

“That got off to a bad start and that didn’t help anything. I don’t think we have good chemistry with the judges. And that saddens me. They are good individually, but I miss the camaraderie we have had in the past. Individually, every single one of them has something to offer, [but] for me it is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle that doesn’t quite fit. And it has been really difficult because it has been a good season of talent. That is always very sad, and everybody of course has an opinion as to how we can stop falling ratings. They all become producers.”