'American Idol' host addresses the
'heated' argument between the two judges after footage leaks online from
auditions in Charlotte.
Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey sparked headlines on Tuesday (October 2) when a video leaked of the pair arguing at "American Idol" auditions in Charlotte, North Carolina. The snippet captures a heated dispute between the two performers as the fiery MC takes shots (and throws F-bombs) at Carey.
On Wednesday, "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest opened up about the incident
during his morning radio show, offering up some insider knowledge on
what went down between the two women. "There was a very heated, intense
argument towards the end of the day after a contestant did a little bit
of a performance in the room.
Keith [Urban] was sitting there, Randy
[Jackson] was sitting there. Of course, Nicki and Mariah both there. I
was outside. I was outside with the contestant's family at the time.
Both of these judges, as I have said before, come with different
perspective," he explained of the mid-audition fight. He added that
while both women bring opposing viewpoints to the panel, this argument
"went a little far."
In the footage, a pink-haired Nicki
reportedly requested that she not be referred to as a "gangster" and
added, "I'm not f---ing putting up with her f---ing highness." For her part, Carey complained that "I can't see my kids, because you decided to act like a little crazy bitch."
Seacreast
added, "And, so, yeah, it was heated. It did go too far, to the point
where the producers said with just a few more contestants left, 'Let's
call it a day.' And, [they] called a 'wrap'.
So, today [October 3] is a
second day of auditions in Charlotte, with that panel. And when you look
at what the producers and Fox put together for this season, both of
them, all of them, the four of them are essential components to what
makes up the entire sum of the panel and provides that different
perspective and that interesting point of view."
While it's unknown for now what exactly sparked the fight, Seacrest
did offer this explanation. "Nicki's got a specific perspective about
what's playing and hot on the chart right now.
Mariah has got that
iconic experience and that legend status, being one of the greatest
singers alive. And, of course, Keith and Randy provide their different
perspective," he said. "But, you know when you put Nicki and Mariah and
Keith and Randy together that you're going to have different opinions,
which is fantastic."
Day two in Charlotte will not only allow a
new batch of contestants to audition in front of the lively judging
panel, but also those who didn't get the chance to audition on Tuesday.
Regardless of how those auditions panned out, the woman who was in the
room when the argument erupted did eventually get the thumbs up to move
on to Hollywood.
It may also mark the first time that Minaj and
Carey have spoken since the incident. "Let's see after last night, I
don't know [if they talked]. [It's] inevitable we're going to be working
there in a few hours... So, I can answer more of that tomorrow," he
said.
Prior to the Charlotte incident, Carey and Minaj had laughed off
rumors that they felt any animosity toward one another. However, Carey
did note that perhaps it was still too early for any beef to have been
cooked up at a September press conference. She said, "How are we gonna
feud in two days? A feud takes a little longer to spread out [than
that]."
