The Minaj and the fury. In the wake of Nicki Minaj's outburst against Miley Cyrus during the 2015 MTV VMAs on Sunday, Aug. 30, a source tells Us Weekly exclusively that everybody was in the dark about the rapper's plans to call the evening's host a "bitch" on live television.
"No one knew that Nicki was going to go off on Miley beforehand," the insider tells Us. "Nothing was preplanned about that!"
As previously reported by Us, it was not an act when the "Anaconda" rapper, 32, railed against Cyrus during the show. In fact, Minaj's ill feelings towards the "Wrecking Ball" songstress, 22, which she expressed while accepting the award for Best Hip Hop Video — "And now… back to this bitch that had a lot to say about me in the press. Miley, what’s good?" — were absolutely genuine.
"Nicki was livid with Miley and decided to air her feelings onstage," the insider told Us on Monday. "The anger was very real."
Presenter Rebel Wilson, meanwhile, shared a pic of herself with an exuberant Minaj moments after the tense exchange, but backstage coordinators were aware of the rapper's rage against Cyrus — and were concerned about what would happen if the two crossed paths.
"Nicki is famously a little hot-tempered," the source tells Us. "After, everyone saw that she was legitimately upset. They just made sure that if Nicki was going to go into the pressroom, or if Miley came down into the audience to do a bit, anything like that — that the two ladies wouldn’t cross paths."
Luckily, they were able to avoid any confrontations. "Thankfully, nothing happened," the source tells Us. "But you can tell from Miley’s face that she definitely looked surprised and a little scared!"
Indeed, Cyrus looked shocked as Minaj ripped her before the star-studded audience on Sunday, and then picked up the pieces like a pro.
"Hey, we are all in this industry and we all do interviews and say s–t," Cyrus said from an opposite stage. "Nicki, congratuf–kinglations."