Most celebrities were more comfortable about their statements and behaviors toward other artists before social media. They would slam, criticize, and even attack each other. However, their managers would manage to stop the bad news from spreading by threatening or paying money to the journalists since it would ruin the artists’ reputation. Nonetheless, social media changed everything.
Along with journalists, their fans also started sharing everything that their idols have said or done on their social media accounts. Therefore, social media turned into a nightmare for some celebrities who received backlash due to their controversial statements, while others reached an even wider audience. A great example is Aerosmith’s lead singer Steven Tyler, who was heavily criticized after his comment about American Idol.
Steven Tyler Was An American Idol Judge
American Idol is a singing competition television series that first aired on Fox on June 11, 2002, and became a top-rated show. After fifteen seasons, the show went into a hiatus, and then American Idol returned for its 16th season on ABC on March 11, 2018. Both the contestants and juries drew great attention during the contest, and people argued about them a lot.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler surprised his fans when he announced that he would be an American Idol jury on the 10th season alongside Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson. Then he continued as a jury for the next season, but he and Lopez left the show. The following judges were Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, and Randy Jackson. Thus, as a former judge, Tyler wanted to share his ideas about them.
Nicki Minaj Called Steven Tyler ‘Racist’
In one of his interviews, Steven Tyler criticized the new American Idol jury saying that they don’t have enough experience to find and help the true talents, and if Nicki Minaj saw someone like Bob Dylan, she could throw him away ‘to the cornfield.’ Then, Nicki Minaj responded to Tyler’s comments about her and highlighted that he was prejudiced and hadn’t seen her skills as a jury yet.
Also, Minaj added that Tyler wanted to attack her with a racist comment because he wished to be one of the juries in American Idol again. She advised him to talk to the producers about it by reflecting her anger and disappointment on her Twitter account. Later the Aerosmith frontman highlighted that he was the last person who could be a racist, and he was talking about finding a talented singer like Bob Dylan.
Tyler’s comment read:
“These kids, they just got out of a car from the Midwest somewhere, and they’re in New York City, they’re scared to death; you’re not going to get the best out of them. If it was Bob Dylan, Nicki Minaj would have had him sent to the cornfield!”
Nicki Minaj responded:
“Steven Tyler said I would have sent Bob Dylan to a cornfield? Steven, you haven’t seen me judge one single solitary contestant yet!
She added:
“I understand you really wanted to keep your job but take that up with the producers. I haven’t done anything to you. That’s a racist comment.“
Tyler shared his ideas saying:
“I apologize if it was taken wrong Nicki, but I am the farthest thing from being a racist. I am the last thing on this planet as far as being a racist. I don’t know where she got that out of me, saying I’m not sure how she would’ve judged Bob Dylan. I was just saying that if Bob Dylan came on the show, he would have been thrown off the show.
Maybe I spoke out of turn, but a racist I’m not, Nicki.“
Consequently, it can be understood from his statement that Steven Tyler felt bad when he was called a racist and received backlash due to his words about Nicki Minaj. After sharing his sadness and apologizing for his statement during another interview, Minaj didn’t respond to Steven Tyler and decided to focus on the contestants as the new American Idol jury.
You can check out the tweets below.
Steven Tyler said I would have sent Bob Dylan to a cornfield??? Steven, you haven't seen me judge one single solitary contestant yet!
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) November 26, 2012
I understand you really wanted to keep your job but take that up with the producers. I haven't done anything to you. That's a racist comment
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) November 26, 2012
