Chelsea Handler makes brutal dig at Nicki Minaj live at Critics Choice Awards amid MAGA backlash
Chelsea Handler wasted no time in dishing out the digs at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards.
Handler, who hosted the awards, addressed the crowd of celebs with a few jokes and subtle commentary on the state of film, TV, and American politics, but it was a direct jab at rapper Nicki Minaj that caught people's attention.
Earlier on in her career, Minaj had shown support for the LGBTQ+ community and even spoken about being an 'illegal' immigrant to the US, but her recent actions have shown her aligning with MAGA supporters and President Trump's politics, to the dismay of many fans.
The female artist made headlines recently after she was a surprise guest at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21, where she shared the stage with Erika Kirk, the widow of right-wing social media personality Charlie Kirk.
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And amid this backlash, Handler said: "I haven’t been invited to a black person’s house since Sinners..
"Only person who has invited me is Nicki Minaj but who wants to go over there?"
The Trump administration has enacted policies and executive orders aimed at stopping immigration to the US. They are also focused on mass deportations, re-examining green cards, and increasing border enforcement. There have also been executive orders targeting trans people.
Such has meant many of Minaj's fans have been left surprised by the singer's recent political views.
The frustrations with the artist may have reached a new level as Minaj now has to contend with two petitions calling for her deportation.
One Change.org petition has so far been signed by more than 46,000 people, while another has more than 87,000 signatures, both calling for her deportation to Trinidad and Tobago, where she was born.
Minaj has previously criticised Trump over his immigration stance, she wrote on Instagram: “I came to this country as an illegal immigrant.
“I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place & having my parents stripped away from me at the age of five.”
In 2024 during a TikTok live, she said she never officially became a US citizen.
Minaj explained: "You would think that with the millions of dollars that I've paid in taxes to this country that I would have been given an honorary citizenship many, many, many thousands of years ago."
The 2026 Critics Choice Awards marks the start of this year's awards season, and who'd have thought it would have got off to such a political start.
Nonetheless, others on X found Handler's comments somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as one viewer penned: "Chelsea Handler got a chuckle out of me #CriticsChoiceAwards."
Topics: Nicki Minaj, Celebrity
Callum Jones