Elon Musk and Nicki Minaj's friendship explained after her surprise appearance at SpaceX Starship launch

Elon Musk and Nicki Minaj have seemingly sparked up a unlikely friendship with one another that's left some people confused.

She made an appearance at the SpaceX Starship launch in Texas yesterday (May 21), and people took to social media to discuss her attendance.

"OMG, Nicki Minaj is at Starbase for the Starship V3 launch," somebody said.

A second questioned: "Why is every celebrity suddenly a space enthusiast when Elon's around?"

Elsewhere it was dubbed as 'crossover nobody expected'.

"Nicki at a SpaceX launch? That’s a crossover nobody expected but somehow makes sense," a Twitter-user penned. "She loves a spectacle, and Elon loves attention. Whether the rocket launched or not, the photo op already happened."

Speaking at the event, 'Starships' hitmaker Minaj gushed about what the tech mogul is 'doing for humanity'.

She said: "Major shoutout to Elon! Elon, thank you for everything you are doing for humanity."

Musk proceeded to reshare a clip of Minaj on the SpaceX live stream and wrote alongside it: "Welcome to Starbase, @NICKIMINAJ."

While some people were surprised to see Minaj at the Texas-based establishment, the rapper and Musk have been exchanging pleasantries with one another for some time.

Back in March, Minaj dubbed Musk as the supposed 'leader' of 'neurodivergents' – seemingly coming out as neurodivergent herself in the same breath.

She wrote on Twitter on March 13: "Neurodivergents watching our leader Elon be the richest & smartest while the others realize they're cooked."

But if you go back even further to November 2025, Minaj endorsed some of Musk's words of wisdom.

In a video shared on social media at the time, Musk said (per Mirror US): "There are a lot of negative things in the world. There are a lot of terrible things that are happening all over the world, all the time. There are lots of problems that need to get solved."

He went on: “So there are lots of things that are miserable and kind of get you down, but life can not just be about solving one miserable problem after another. That can't be the only thing.

"There needs to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity."

Minaj reshared the clip and wrote: "Speak Elon, we’re listening."

It's likely the celebrity pair became more acquainted with one another through their mutual support of Trump.

Musk served as the head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year, while Minaj has voiced her support for Trump and his administration on numerous occasions – even posting and odd AI photo of her and the president.