{"id":243682,"date":"2026-01-21T03:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/243682\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T03:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:30:09","slug":"don-lemon-responds-to-nicki-minajs-vulgar-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/243682\/","title":{"rendered":"Don Lemon Responds To Nicki Minaj’s Vulgar Remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former CNN host Don Lemon <\/a>dug into MAGA ally Nicki Minaj<\/a> after she attacked him over his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a church<\/a> in Minnesota, amplifying right-wing calls for his arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so glad that I had never been a Nicki Minaj fan. I don\u2019t know her music,\u201d Lemon told left-leaning podcaster Jennifer Welch Monday. \u201cThere is nothing on my playlist that\u2019s ever Nicki Minaj and there isn\u2019t going to be because she is an ignorant \u2018pick me,\u2019<\/a> and I choose not to pick her.\u201d <\/p>\n

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon put Lemon \u201con notice\u201d in a post announcing that the DOJ will pursue charges against anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a service Sunday at Cities Church in St. Paul, over speculation that a pastor at the church has connections to ICE. <\/p>\n

Dhillon accused Lemon, who had reported on the protest, of \u201cbeing a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy,\u201d in an interview with right-wing influencer Benny Johnson<\/a> Monday, threatening to invoke the Enforcement Act<\/a> of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, to charge the journalist.<\/p>\n

BREAKING: DOJ Announces Intention to Charge Don Lemon under the Ku Klux Klan Act. <\/p>\n

The KKK Act makes it illegal to threaten, hurt, or intimidate people to prevent them from exercising their God-given rights.<\/p>\n

HARMEET DHILLON: “The Klan Act is one of the most important federal\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/GWnXAMtWc9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The law prohibits groups of people from gathering with the intention of violating citizens\u2019 constitutional rights. Lemon disputed Dhillon\u2019s accusations on Welch\u2019s show. <\/p>\n

\u201cNone of what she says there applies to me,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lemon\u2019s reporting garnered backlash from the right, including a \u201cbarrage of violent threats, along with homophobic and racist slurs,\u201d he told NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among his attackers is Minaj, who in recent weeks has lost some fans<\/a> over her outspoken alignment with President Donald Trump <\/a>and his MAGA base. <\/p>\n

\u201cDON \u2018COCK SUCKIN\u2019 LEMON IS DISGUSTING,\u201d the rapper wrote in an all-caps X post on Monday that included an image of a Chucky doll<\/a>. \u201cHOW DARE YOU? I WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!! HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ANY OTHER RELIGION. LOCK HIM UP!!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

DON \u2018COCK SUCKIN\u2019 LEMON IS DISGUSTING. <\/p>\n

HOW DARE YOU?<\/p>\n

I WANT THAT THUG IN JAIL!!!!!<\/p>\n

HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ANY OTHER RELIGION. <\/p>\n

LOCK HIM UP!!!!! pic.twitter.com\/xoQBl9KDJY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) January 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised Nicki Minaj does not understand journalism and is weighing in on matters that are above her capacity,\u201d Lemon fired back in a statement to TMZ<\/a>. \u201cHowever, the more appropriate image for her post is a \u2018Pick Me\u2019 Doll.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also released his own video in response to the artist, telling her to \u201cstop talking about shit for which you know nothing about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is out of your depth, by the way, and you are a homophobic bigot,\u201d Lemon said.<\/p>\n

In his interview with Welch, the journalist called Minaj a \u201cgrifter,\u201d citing her recent cozying up to Erika Kirk<\/a>, whose late husband, Charlie Kirk, made several<\/a> controversial<\/a> remarks<\/a> about Black people before his killing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe talked shit about Black people a lot,\u201d Lemon said. \u201cHe said racist, bigoted things a lot, and she\u2019s cozying up to his wife and to his organization and to all of the other bigots in the MAGA movement, and now she is calling a gay man a cock sucker. That\u2019s homophobia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minaj defended her use of the derogatory term in a follow-up post, telling followers, \u201cI\u2019m glad they\u2019re angry. They\u2019re about to get angrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lemon told Welch, \u201cNicki Minaj doesn\u2019t care about Black people. d She doesn\u2019t care about gay people. Those are two of her biggest supporters and the people who make her rich and … as a Black and gay person, I\u2019m not supporting her.\u201d<\/p>\n