Nicki Minaj has canceled her appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on “doctor’s orders.”
The 35-year-old rapper — who’s set to release a new album next month titled Queen — was scheduled to make an appearance on the daytime talk show but was advised to pull out for medical reasons.
And the last-minute change means Nicki has had to rethink her plans to make a special announcement to her fans.
She explained on Twitter: “I couldn’t fly out to shoot Ellen. [Doctor’s Orders]. I’m sad about that. There’s an announcement I was going to make on Ellen. I’ll make it tomorrow via social media instead. Love you.”
Nicki’s most recent TV appearance came on “Saturday Night Live,” where she performed her new single “Chun-Li” for the first time but faced backlash from viewers after being accused of cultural appropriation.
The musician took to the stage in a traditional East Asian outfit — believed to be in tribute to the “Street Fighter” character the song was named after — however, her performance attracted criticism for appropriating Asian culture.
One Twitter user wrote, “I wouldn’t care as much about the appropriation of Asian culture if Asian culture was represented in American culture by Asian actors more. Instead, it’s used as set dressing (and frequently fetishized). Nicki Minaj’s performance on @nbcsnl is a prime example.”
However, some were quick to come to her defense saying: “I’m seeing that people are saying that Nicki Minaj is partaking in cultural appropriation because of Chun-li and the music video.
“Chun-li is about a video game character and the music video is alluding to that character. It’s not mimicking a culture. Also, Nicki is part Asian.”
