Just when you thought 2025 couldn't get any stranger, December comes along with a last-minute surprise.
The Make America Great Again movement has picked up momentum this year – not least thanks to President Donald Trump returning to the White House.
Still, while there have been some apparent losses in the form of Elon Musk's spectacular falling out with the POTUS, MAGA has picked up some recruits in surprising corners of the pop culture world.
In a 12-month period that's given us Katy Perry going to space, Coldplay's Chris Martin accidentally exposing an affair, Emily Blunt speaking out amid fears she could be replaced by a wholly AI actor, and Winnie the Pooh being photographed alongside Jeffrey Epstein, another famous face is rounding off the year with a bit of drama.
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After seemingly hitching her wagon to Elon Musk, Nicki Minaj raised a few eyebrows that she could be a secret MAGA supporter. As the weeks went on and she started posting more praise for President Donald Trump, the "Anaconda" rapper has now sparked fury by fully embracing the Republican Party.
More than this, Minaj shocked many a Barbz when she attended Turning Point USA's controversial AmericaFest 2025.
During a chat with the widowed Erika Kirk, Minaj discussed everything from faith to her freedom of expression, even referring to Trump as 'dashing' and 'handsome'.
There was also the viral moment she discussed her love for Vice President Vance and awkwardly said: "You have amazing role models like the assassin, JD Vance, our vice president - and when I say that...”
Minaj then realized her poor choice of words, considering Charlie Kirk was killed during a September 10 shooting at Utah Valley University. This didn't seem to faze Erika Kirk, who said you can't help but laugh in these moments and added: "I love this woman, she is an amazing woman. She has a soul and a heart for the Lord, and words are words, but I know her heart and it doesn't even matter - and you say what you want to say because I know your heart - and I do not judge that."
With Minaj going full MAGA, the backlash has been instant. Although Vance praised the rapper and said her words were 'profound', the claims she shared about having gained 100,000 followers could be off the mark. Even if Minaj gained followers in the immediate aftermath, it's being widely reported that she's since lost a whopping 10 million, AND nuked her Instagram into the ground.
While still active on X, Minaj's Instagram account is nowhere to be found at the time of writing.
The mysterious 10 million figure can't be substantiated, but with her follower count standing at around 227.5 million in November 2025 and slumping to 223.8 million before deactivation, she'd already lost around four million.
As we saw from calls for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Chris Pratt to be fired from his role as Star-Lord over his support of the late Charlie Kirk, Minaj is finding out the hard way just how divided opinions are on TPUSA.
Elsewhere, the Billboard-topping artist has been reminded of a Charlie Kirk video where he made his feelings clear on her. In the resurfaced clip, Kirk called out the influence of artists like Cardi B and Minaj, explaining: "I don’t think [Nicki Minaj] is a good role model for 18-year-old Black girls."
Others have pointed to her own lyrics, famously saying, "Island girl, Donald Trump want me go home," in 2016's "Black Barbies".
Minaj was once vocally against President Trump, calling him out during MTV's My Time Now while saying: "But Donald Trump, he gets to hang out with young b*tches and have 50 different wives and just be cool."
Things seemed to shift during the pandemic, as Minaj posted an anti-vaxx conspiracy theory, and more recently, shared a controversial White House video on immigration that used her song, "Va Va Voom".
This all culminated in Minaj being invited to speak at the United Nations and give a speech on behalf of the current administration.
It's important to note that Minaj previously deactivated her account in October 2025, and as she's not known to stay silent, we don't imagine it'll be long before she puts the latest rumors to bed.