Nicki Minaj Rebukes Ousted ‘American Idol’ Contestant

Nicki Minaj doesn’t seem to be taking too kindly to criticism from Devin Velez after he was eliminated from American Idol.

The Brooklyn rapper and judge on the Fox competition spoke out after Velez was eliminated on Thursday, noting that he should not have counted on the judges to use one of their “saves on him.”

“America r the ‘potential’ fans…u MUST win them over. “Saves” are bullsh– and they know it. Those girls are just too good this year,” Minaj tweeted Friday.

Nicki Minaj has made it clear this year that the competition’s female singers are in a class far above the male singers. In an interview with reporters in March, the judge was asked if there was any chance a boy could win American Idol.

Her answer was direct: “NO!” After a silent moment, she added: “No. Absolutely not. Not a chance.”

Minaj has been tough on the male singers this year, slamming Velez, Lazaro Arbos,and Burnell Taylor for their group performance on Motown night.

“I felt like this was back in Hollywood Week,” Minaj said to them after the performance. “I don’t know what that was, but I’m gonna act like I didn’t even see it or hear it. I’m going to thank God that all three of you already had your solo performances. Lazaro, you fell as flat as a pancake. … All three of you, get off the stage.”

After Velez was eliminated, he took aim at Nicki Minaj for her harsh critiques.

“When she went crazy — when she was like ‘get off the stage, blah blah blah’ … it’s just like ‘Whoa, Miss Minaj, I need you to calm down please,'” Velez told reporters Friday. “She could have been upset because the night before she was wearing the same colored dress as Mariah [Carey], or that she was on time. We never know. But I know that I love her as a judge. … It’s when she gets into the exaggerative speaking, where it’s just like, ah, take it easy! You don’t want to hurt somebody else’s feelings.”

Nicki Minaj rebuked Devin Velez on Twitter:

Lol. Be mad @ AMERICA when u get sent home. The JUDGES are the ones who FOUGHT for America to get the opp to VOTE 4 U!!! #memba?

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) March 29, 2013

Nicki Minaj added that once Curtis Finch Jr. was eliminated, there were no male singers left that could win the competition.