--- title: Nicki Minaj Made Ellen DeGeneres Have a Fake Feud with Oprah description: Nicki explains to Ellen how to get into the rap game by starting a feud with a rival — like Oprah, for instance. canonical: https://time.com/4790437/nicki-minaj-ellen-degeneres-oprah/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-23T16:04:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:43:53.247Z og:title: Nicki Minaj Made Ellen DeGeneres Start a Fake Feud With Oprah og:description: Nicki breaks down how to get into the rap game for Ellen og:url: https://time.com/4790437/nicki-minaj-ellen-degeneres-oprah/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nicki Minaj Made Ellen DeGeneres Start a Fake Feud With Oprah twitter:description: Nicki breaks down how to get into the rap game for Ellen twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Nicki Minaj Just Convinced Ellen DeGeneres to Start a Fake Feud With Oprah > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 23, 2017 4:04 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 23, 2017 4:04 PM UTC While dropping by _The Ellen Show_ to discuss her extensive [Billboard Music Awards](http://time.com/4787730/billboard-music-awards-best-worst-moments/) opening performance, Nicki Minaj had some unexpected advice for Ellen DeGeneres: it’s time to start a feud. “I’m new to this rap game — of course, I’m in it now,” DeGeneres admitted. (Minaj name-drops DeGeneres in her [cutting song “No Frauds,” ](http://time.com/4746706/nicki-minaj-drake-lil-wayne-no-frauds-video/)which is itself a track that responds to the fraught history between [Minaj and Remy Ma](http://time.com/4684737/nicki-minaj-remy-ma-rap-feud/), an ongoing feud that has proved musically prolific for both rappers). “Should I have a beef with someone?” Ellen asked. “What should I do to get really entrenched into the rap game?” Minaj suggested finding someone who would be her rival, which was a difficult task for sunny Ellen. “I really like everybody. It’s hard. I’ve had to really make somebody up. Reese Witherspoon. I’m furious at her,” she deadpanned. But Nicki knew exactly who the perfect foil could be: “Let’s say Oprah was Ellen’s rival,” she offered mischievously, despite Ellen’s protests. “No, but that’s the point. You and Oprah are two amazing women. So let’s say you started getting jealous of her or something, and you throw a jab or something, and she throws one back. It’s so much fun, and then you make a rap, and she makes one, you know?” So there we have it: to find fertile ground for fiery rap, identify your enemy and then have “so much fun.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4790437/nicki-minaj-ellen-degeneres-oprah/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4790437/nicki-minaj-ellen-degeneres-oprah/"},"headline":"Nicki Minaj Just Convinced Ellen DeGeneres to Start a Fake Feud With Oprah","datePublished":"2017-05-23T16:04:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:43:53.247Z","description":"Nicki explains to Ellen how to get into the rap game by starting a feud with a rival — like Oprah, for instance.","url":"https://time.com/4790437/nicki-minaj-ellen-degeneres-oprah/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","celebrities","Nicki Minaj","Ellen Degeneres"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4790437/nicki-minaj-ellen-degeneres-oprah/","name":"Nicki Minaj Just Convinced Ellen DeGeneres to Start a Fake Feud With Oprah"}}]}] ```