--- title: Nicki Minaj Gave Margaret Thatcher a Shout Out description: Nicki Minaj caused confusion on social media Thursday when she gave a shout out to Margaret Thatcher, the late British prime minister. canonical: https://time.com/5377298/nicki-minaj-margaret-thatcher/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-24T15:15:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:48.565Z og:title: Nicki Minaj Gave a Confusing Shout Out to Margaret Thatcher og:description: Fans quickly voiced their concerns about Thatcher og:url: https://time.com/5377298/nicki-minaj-margaret-thatcher/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20ab6681cc895161/698938a04ee26227e7312ad3/nicki-minaj-margaret-thatcher.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Nicki Minaj and Margaret Thatcher og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nicki Minaj Gave a Confusing Shout Out to Margaret Thatcher twitter:description: Fans quickly voiced their concerns about Thatcher twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20ab6681cc895161/698938a04ee26227e7312ad3/nicki-minaj-margaret-thatcher.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nicki Minaj Gave a Shout Out to Margaret Thatcher and People Are Really Confused > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a3a00e80-49d4-4edf-a4a7-d93d77817459&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME 100: Nicki Minaj [Watch (HLS stream): TIME 100: Nicki Minaj](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TPuz6I2B.m3u8) (2:41)  _Published 2017-05-08. MONEY_  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Aug 24, 2018 3:15 PM UTC  Nicki Minaj and Margaret Thatcher Nicki Minaj and Margaret Thatcher Getty Images (2)  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Aug 24, 2018 3:15 PM UTC [Nicki Minaj](http://time.com/5372771/vmas-2018-ariana-grande-nicki-minaj/) caused some confusion on social media Thursday night when she gave a shout out to Margaret Thatcher, the late former British Prime Minister. “Everyone has to express their truth and I have to ruffle a few feathers along the way, I don’t care,” Minaj said on her new radio show. “Shout out to Margaret Thatcher. Sometimes queens and women of power have to do things that even they aren’t happy about doing, but they know it’s for the betterment of what’s to come and who’s to come.” Thatcher, often referred to as the “Iron Lady,” was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, however fans quickly voiced their concerns about Thatcher. > [](https://twitter.com/%5Fleemunro/status/1032734354139742208) Thatcher was a polarizing prime minister. She governed the U.K. for 11 years beginning in 1979, labelled the party of Nelson Mandela as “terrorists.” In 2006 then-Conservative leader David Cameron apologized for the “mistakes” of Thatcher’s government, including a failure to impose sanctions upon Apartheid South Africa. Thatcher also implemented the “Section 28” law – which stated that schools in the U.K. should not “promote the acceptability of homosexuality,” which in effect banned the discussion of same-sex relationships between teachers and students. Stonewall, an LGBT+ rights organization, says Section 28 was “an offensive piece of legislation designed to prevent the so-called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools, as well as stigmatising lesbian, gay and bi people.” But she is perhaps most widely remembered in the U.K. for her comprehensive restructuring of the economy away from manufacturing towards financial services. At the beginning of her governance, 13.4% of Brits lived in a [measure of poverty](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/datablog/2013/apr/08/britain-changed-margaret-thatcher-charts), according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. At the end, that number had risen to 22.2% – although the incomes of the richest in society had risen significantly. > [](https://twitter.com/screaminnipple/status/1032952614189785094) Thatcher was an ardent believer in the “invisible hand” of the free market, and engaged in a drawn-out battle with striking miners, which she eventually won – refusing to subsidize state-owned mines that were failing to turn a profit. While many British people agree those mines were unsustainable, there is a general consensus that Thatcher’s failure to invest in areas where jobs were lost was the key factor in the widespread poverty in those regions that continues until today. “There’s no such thing as society,” [she said in 1987](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-quotes). Minaj’s remark came not long after she likened herself to Harriet Tubman, a woman who escaped slavery and then helped free hundreds of slaves in the U.S. in the 1800s. > [](https://twitter.com/LivviLamb/status/1032754348600827905) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I think before I could remember wanting to do anything else, I knew I wanted to be in charge. [ MUSIC ] As a child my mother didn't have a job where she was the boss. And I always looked at that and wished that she was the boss and that she did make her own rules. So from very early on I felt like you know what, whatever I do one day, I want to be more in charge. Of my business. Two of the things that I wanted to leave behind was that I like my own raps. A man doesn't have to write down your thoughts. You're intelligent enough to write down your own thoughts. And number two, I would become a mogul. It's Nicki Minaj, dirty money how let you girl. Thanks for the love, I really do appreciate Appreciate it. I exceeded every expectation, I think, people had for a rapper. I think black women are held to higher standards. A lot of pop culture takes from black culture and, oftentimes, doesn't really say they got it from black culture. Magazines are acting like they're just being done for the first time because it's on a white woman's head or it's on a white woman's body. And you have to Get used to living in a world that doesn't even acknowledge that you did certain things. It's Hood Fierce and Nicki Minaj. One thing I learned along the way in business is the necessity for you to be unapologetic about asking for how much money you deserve. At a very early stage in my rap career I was making six figures. For shows. If I heard there was another rapper making that, I thought, you know what, I get out there and command a crowd. I get out there and make my fans happy. I want that too. And I think women have the tendency to feel that they shouldn't ask to be compensated as much as man doing the same exact thing. If you know you're great at what you do Don't ever be ashamed to ask for the top dollar in your field. [ MUSIC ] I actually remixed Flawless with Beyonc ��. Whenever I do something with her, I can feel the impact. It just feels like young women are being empowered and inspired. Because I think it says a lot when you see two young women at the top of their [ UNKNOWN ] whether they're black or white. It just means a lot when you see them owning who they are. And owning the business. And owning the industry. Not taking no for an answer and not being apologetic for who they are. I think that it inspires women. Young, old, black, white, whatever. 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