"Every day I learn that y'all getting dumber and f**king dumber." That was Nicki Minaj's message to fans who seemed to believe claims from an alleged former assistant who leveled multiple allegationsagainst the rapper, including that she owes $173 million in taxes.
On Monday, the Shade Room posted screenshots from someone with the Instagram handle @katemiller_7, whose bio said she is an executive at Republic Records, Minaj's label. The photo associated with the account has been identified as one of author Megan Feldman Bettencourt, who appeared to have no involvement in the matter.
On her now-deleted Instagram account, katemiller_7 posted numerous allegations, including accusations of abuse against Minaj's husband, Kenneth Petty, the name of Minaj's son (which the artist has kept private), and accusations of fraud against Minaj, saying, "I have your tax refunds from 2021. When are we gonna tell the Barbz you've owed the IRS 173 million since 2016? Renting homes is always the go to for the Minaj residence."
Katemiller_7 continued about the rapper, whose real name is Onika Maraj-Petty, "I am Onika ex assistant who she fired who for absolutely no proof of fraud with her bank account" and "I'm exposing all files I have from working for her. Along with the voice messages she sent regarding many different people." The user claimed to have signed an NDA but said that the information she was relaying was not covered by it.
Nicki's Instagram Live response started faux teary-eyed, with the rapper pretending to feel exposed by her so-called assistant's spilling of her tea. But she quickly shifted her tone to one of dismissiveness against the allegations, which also included claims that she paid for her song "Freaky Girl" to chart and that people on Nicki's team are uncomfortable around her husband.
Minaj's husband since 2019, Kenneth Petty, was convicted in 1995 for attempted rape and pleaded guilty in September of 2021 for failing to register as a sex offender in California.
Reached for comment, Bettencourt said, "I had no idea it was happening until I got home from the mountains with my family on Sunday and arrived to hundreds of emails and social media messages alerting me to the fact that someone had stolen my photo and used it in this fake account. I immediately reported all of the accounts I could find using [Kate Miller]."
Minaj, for her part, suggested on her Instagram Live that there is a coordinated disinformation plot against her.
"This is another fan base," she said. "They're going through with their plot to take me down, because they see that all the lies they've made thus far has never worked... It's people right now that's paying entire staffs to figure out to end Nicki. I know for a fact from actual people that work for labels.
"Whatever you hear about me from now on, believe it. Believe that s**t. Put a spin on it, twist on it, suck on it, spit on it. Believe it. Because I don't f**king care."
Newsweek reached out to Minaj, the IRS and Republic Records.
Update 08/04/2022, 5:40 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from Megan Feldman Bettencourt.
