When was Nicki Minaj a judge on American Idol? Singer's stint on the reality tv show explored

Nicki Minaj has been in the rap industry for close to 15 years now, with five studio albums, four headlining tours, and multiple prestigious awards - including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award - under her belt.

Beyond rap, Minaj has also dabbled in acting, voice acting, and judging a music show. The rapper was a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol in 2013, alongside Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, and Keith Urban. Minaj and Urban were brought in as replacement judges for Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler from the eleventh season.

American Idol's twelfth season premiered on Fox on January 16, 2013 - and concluded five months later, on May 16. Candice Glover was the winner of the season, and Kree Harrison was the runner-up.

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Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey had a feud during the early production of American Idol

In the early days of American Idol's production, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey were engaged in a feud that resulted in Minaj walking out of the set mid-shooting. According to People, Carey had allegedly been making jabs at the Starships rapper from day one.

A source from Idol told the magazine:

"Mariah doesn’t think Nicki can sing and doesn’t think she should be judging folks. Nicki has been taking all of the jabs, but on this particular day she lost it."

In the outburst that led Minaj to walk off, it was rumored that the rapper had also threatened Mariah Carey, saying:

"If I had a gun I'd shoot that f***ing b***h."

While it led to speculations about Minaj leaving the show, American Idol soon released a formal statement to put them all to rest, stating:

“This is one of the best, most passionate, dynamic and invested judging panels we’ve ever had. We love and support all of the judges and the fantastic work they are doing, and we can’t imagine a better group to find the next American Idol. Despite all the accusations and media speculation – much of which is inaccurate – production is going extremely well today and the judges are focused on finding the best talent here in Baton Rouge.”

While all four judges remained on the panel throughout the twelfth season, three of them - Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson, and Mariah Carey - already announced their exits from the show before the season concluded.

Keith Urban was the only judge who returned to the show in the following season. Jackson was also present in season 13, but only as a mentor, not a judge.

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Nicki Minaj disclosed she would return to the show for $30 million

On December 14, 2023, Nicki Minaj appeared in an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, where the rapper played Plead the Fifth with him.

The first question Cohen asked Minaj was how much money it would take for the Hey Mama rapper to return to American Idol as a judge. To that, Nicki quoted $30 million.

The 41-year-old was also asked which pop divas she considered the queen of pop. Minaj's answer to that was Beyoncé and Rihanna.

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Minaj also talked about her unreleased documentary on the Andy Cohen show

Elsewhere on the show, Nicki Minaj was also asked about her documentary - which had first been announced in 2020. Talking about it, the Pink Friday rapper revealed that it was finished and was "absolutely still coming," adding:

"What happened was — because my album was not done when I was going to originally put it out, I didn’t want the documentary to come out without the music. That would’ve made no sense to people. Because of that, that network, they had to go with something else and I couldn't force a documentary out either."

Minaj also mentioned that she was sharing "stuff that nobody would expect [her] to share in a documentary," assuring fans that it was going to be a great experience for the fans. As of now, there has been no announcement about the documentary's title or release date.

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The upcoming documentary, whenever it releases, wouldn't be Nicki's first one. The Side to Side rapper has previously released other documentaries, including My Time Now (2010), Nicki Minaj: My Truth (2012) - a three-part mini-series, and My Time Again (2015).