Since the new season of “American Idol” debuted last week, fans have been waiting to see how the producers of the show would handle the infamous taped fight between new judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey. And on Wednesday night’s episode, fans finally got their answer when the fight was covered and Nicki Minaj walked off set after an argument with Carey and veteran judge Randy Jackson.
During auditions in North Carolina, tension between the judges ran high as Minaj and Carey exchanged snide remarks. But things came to a head when 20-year-old singer Summer Cunningham auditioned for the show.
Summer, who grew up singing country music, wasn’t sure what genre to focus on and told the judges that she was done with country, which offended country star judge Keith Urban. Jackson and Carey assumed that Summer would swing toward pop music and urged her to sing country, which they claimed best suited her voice.
However, Minaj disagreed with the judges, saying that they were “picking her apart” and forcing her to box herself into country.
“Really? Is that what I did?” responded Carey. “We’re trying to help her as opposed to just talk about her outfit.”
“Thirty years. A little help. Insight,” Jackson yelled at Cunningham, in response to Minaj, after the singer learned she was going to Hollywood.
And that’s when things completely fell apart. “Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry I can’t help her. Maybe I should just get off the [expletive] panel,” Minaj said before walking off the set, canceling auditions for the rest of the day.
Auditions picked up again the next day, with Minaj and Carey seated further apart from each other.
Watch the video of Minaj walking off set here and check out some other infamous on-air blowups below. –nicholas robinson
