Nicki Minaj Gave Away $250K In Scholarships On ‘Ellen’
According to Radio, during the season premiere of Ellen on Tuesday, Walmart, Nicki Minaj, and Ellen Degeneres teamed up to help put some students through college.
Helping students get through college is nothing new for Nicki Minaj though. In June she gave 37 fans each up to $18,000 to help cover their tuition costs. She calls it her “Student of the Game” fund and it’s her way of helping give back to fans who helped make her career possible. One lucky student tweeted,
“IM ONE OF THE #StudentOfTheGame WINNERS!!!!! IM CRYING THANK YOU SO MUCH @NICKIMINAJ THANK YOUUUU!”
Before that, the rapper paid some tuition bills for a few students when they randomly tweeted her their loan amounts. According to CNET, when fans ask her to help with college payments, the requests are usually small. Some people ask for a few hundred dollars to help pay for textbooks. Others ask for a few thousand dollars.
But as far as the season 16 premiere of Ellen goes, Ellen tweeted that they helped four lucky people and gave out $250,000 to help them pay their tuition. Nicki Minaj also gave a check to a nursing student and joked that she’s going to come to her in three years.
During the show, Nicki also opened up a great deal about her love life and the showdown she had with rapper Travis Scott after her album Queen debuted at number 2 behind his album Astroworld on the Billboard 200.
Ellen asked if she felt she was being a sore loser about coming in second place. She said, “Why do people say things like upset or angry? When someone says how they feel, they’re not always upset or angry.”
But Minaj also admitted, “I felt like I wanted to punch him in his f***ing face. It’s not anger. It’s just what’s right and what’s wrong.”
The rapper continued to explain, “I’ve had a number 2 album and I never cared. It’s just that when you have a number 2 album to someone who’s selling shirts and merch and selling passes for a tour that’s not even announced yet, it feels like you’re being tricked.”
She also said she doesn’t like being taken advantage of. “I don’t like being bullied and I don’t like being taken advantage of, and sometimes people use scare tactics against you because they know, especially as a black woman, that people will call you angry or bitter. So now, it’s almost like we’re not allowed to defend ourselves or stand up for ourselves. I’m not gonna have that.”
