Nicki Minaj branded ‘total piece of s**t’ as photographer recalls ‘appalling’ 2015 shoot in wake of Trump support
"She was never a Lil’ Kim or Foxy Brown. She was simply an agitator," said Erik Madigan Heck
By Aaron Sugg
Erik Madigan Heck, a photographer for The New York Times Magazine, has spoken out against Nicki Minaj after she came out as a MAGA supporter.
The author photographed Minaj for the front cover of the 2015 October issue of NYT and, while the shoot was short, it was far from sweet.
Heck took to Instagram yesterday (28 January) following Minaj’s meeting with President Donald Trump this week, during which she stated she was his “number one fan”.
“In hindsight, that seems irresponsible, but we can get to that later” – Erik Madigan Heck recalls shooting Nicki Minaj moments before his wife gave birth
“Eleven years ago, I photographed Nicki Minaj for the cover of The New York Times Magazine, just before my first son, Felix, was born,” the photographer began.
“I left New York to fly to Los Angeles, even while knowing that it was within the realm of possibility that my wife could go into labour,” he continued. “In hindsight, that seems irresponsible, but we can get to that later.”
He explained that he had been pre-warned that Minaj had once turned up eight hours late to a Terry Richardson shoot. “Although I had sketched out my cover specifically, we had no idea if she’d agree to the hair and makeup,” Heck said.
“I had also been warned that she deleted hard drives” – Heck remembers being told Minaj was difficult to shoot
“I had also been warned that she deleted hard drives when she didn’t like images, so we had everything backed up three times,” he continued, entering the shoot with caution.
This meant that each shot was immediately saved to three different hard drives, wary that the rapper might delete the images from his computer.
After four hours of makeup, his vision came to life — to his “surprise”. However, after just eight clicks of the shutter, Minaj reportedly said: “You got it?”
“It was a shitshow, to be kind” – Heck on photographing Minaj
“After three pictures, and her posting them on Instagram in real time from her phone, she wanted to leave… it was a shitshow, to be kind,” Heck recalled.
He said he was “appalled” by her abrupt departure, “not just because of the shoot, but because of her interview, where she walked off set during her sit-down conversation,” he claimed.
“I also remember thinking, why is Nicki Minaj worthy of being a New York Times Magazine cover subject?” he recalled. “She’s not. She was never a Lil’ Kim or Foxy Brown. She was simply an agitator.”
He further claimed that her bodyguards were armed, with guns strapped to their waists. Recalling a conversation with one of them, Heck said he asked why they tolerated the way she spoke to them. Allegedly, they smiled and said nothing.
“She was a total piece of shit” – Heck on Minaj’s support for Donald Trump
“Now, reading her pro-Trump admiration, I can only feel even more justified in knowing at the time that she was a total piece of shit,” the statement continued. “Not just as a human, but also with her music.”
President Donald Trump invited the rapper, previously considered an LGBTQ+ icon, onto the stage on Wednesday (28 January) while delivering a speech on his social media accounts.
She expressed her admiration for the president, saying: “I am probably the president’s number one fan and that’s not going to change… We’re not going to let them get away with bullying him. And you know, the smear campaigns — it’s not going to work.”
Minaj has recently become a vocal supporter of Trump, also joining Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, for a speech several weeks ago, where she made controversial remarks about trans identities.
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