Don Lemon has responded to Nicki Minaj’s posts, which called him a “thug” and “c**k suckin” for being on the scene of an anti-ICE demonstration that disrupted a church service in Minneapolis. In a video on social media, Lemon slammed Minaj, saying her posts were “homophobic” and “unhinged,” and coming for her immigrant status.
“You’re out of your depth, by the way, and you’re a homophobic bigot,” he said. “You don’t care about African Americans. You are not African American, you are reportedly an undocumented citizen, so you should be deported under Donald Trump’s rules.”
Minaj has shared previously that she came to the United States illegally from Trinidad and Tobago at the age of five. In a post from 2018 criticizing the Trump administration, she shared her concerns about families being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying at the time that she “can’t imagine the horror.”
In the video, Lemon pivoted from speaking about Minaj’s citizenship to calling out her brother and husband’s criminal records, both having been convicted for sexual offenses.
“You have the nerve to talk about me and what you think that I do?” Lemon, who is gay and has been married to real estate agent Tim Malone since 2024, said. “Nicki Minaj: Get a life. Stop being a Pick Me. You should’ve put a Pick Me doll on that damn tweet instead of a Chucky doll because you are nothing but a Pick Me. And I choose not to pick you, and so should Black people. And gay people shouldn’t buy your music. Clock that.”
Lemon also spoke to TMZ, telling the outlet, “I’m not surprised Nicki Minaj does not understand journalism and is weighing in on matters that are above her capacity.”
The beef started yesterday, after Lemon posted footage of an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis that disrupted a church during Sunday service, along with his interviews with protestors.
Minaj, now a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and passionate about the church, took to X to call Lemon “disgusting” and a “c**k suckin” for being involved.
“I want that thug in jail!!!!! He would never do that to any other religion,” she posted. “Lock him up!!!!!”
Minaj has doubled down, writing the hashtag “#ArrestDonLemon” in another post, and showing supporting to a video of Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s civil rights department, Harmeet Dhillon, who went on the conservative podcaster Benny Johnson’s show and threatened to have Lemon charged under the Ku Klux Klan Act. More formally known as the Enforcement Act of 187, the policy was initially created to combat vigilante groups like the KKK from banding together to prevent citizens from exercising their constitutional rights.
Dhillon also condemned Lemon in a post on X.
“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”
Lemon has not publicly responded to the statements by Dhillon.
