Nicki Minaj is keeping herself at the center of controversy after multiple online petitions calling for her deportation surpassed 120,000 signatures combined. The backlash followed her surprise appearance on December 21, 2025, at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. During the event, she spoke alongside Erika Kirk (Charlie Kirk’s widow) and openly praised Donald Trump. In the conversation, the rapper also doubled down on her criticism of California Governor Gavin Newsom, making it clear she was not backing down from her new political stance and made transphobic remarks by stating “if you’re born a boy, be a boy” sparking applause from the conservative crowd.
The petitions, hosted on Change.org, were created between December 21 and 28, 2025, right after her appearance at AmericaFest. One of the most popular petitions, now sitting at over 83,000 signatures, was actually launched in summer 2025, before her Turning Point appearance. Despite the noise online, Nicki Minaj brushed off the criticism after attending the event, calling herself part of “the cool kids” and revealing she didn’t think about the controversies surrounding her. Shortly after, she deactivated her Instagram account as the backlash intensified.
Nicki Minaj on stage: 'If you are born a boy, be a boy—there's nothing wrong with being a boy. How about that?'
Do you agree with her take, or is she out of line? pic.twitter.com/fNCXC9HGNU
— Genius Tech (@Geniustechw) December 27, 2025
Fans have also taken their disappointment offline. According to reports from Newsweek, clubgoers have been booing her music, stopping mid dance when her songs play, and even remixing tracks to remove her verses. The situation escalated earlier in December when the “Super Bass” rapper publicly clashed with Newsom on social media over LGBT advocacy and criticised his policy about protection for transgender kids.
“Imagine being the guy running on wanting to see trans kids. Haha. Not even a trans ADULT would run on that. Normal adults wake up & think they want to see HEALTHY, SAFE, HAPPY kids. Not Gav. The Gav Nots. GavOUT. Send in the next guy, I’m bored.”
