Nicki Minaj Grammy Performance a 'Trashing' of Catholic Faith?
Nicki Minaj's 2012 Grammy Awards performance was riddled with religious themes Sunday night, causing the Catholic church to speak out on the hip-hop artist's "disrespectful" presentation.
Minaj first caused controversy when she appeared on the red carpet of the awards show in a red robe with a man dressed as a pope. During the performance of her new song "Roman's Holiday," the rapper imitated an exorcism and levitated while using a large amount of Catholic references tinged with sexuality.
Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, criticized Minaj's performance and questioned if the rapper-turned-pop star was possessed. He also pointed out that other religions did not have to endure the same mockery as Catholicism.
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"Whether Minaj is possessed is surely an open question, but what is not in doubt is the irresponsibility of The Recording Academy," Donahue said in a release by the Catholic League. "Never would they allow an artist to insult Judaism or Islam."
However, Minaj did not seem to care about her critics. She took to her Twitter account to remind over nine million followers that people did not express outrage about movies with religious themes like "The Devil Inside," a film about a young woman who partakes in several exorcisms that not authorized by the Roman Catholic Church.
"Were they offended by the devil inside," Minaj questioned in her tweet. "Shut-up and watch the movie (expletive)."
On Monday, the entertainer spoke with media personality Ryan Seacrest on his radio show about what influenced her performance. Minaj explained why she felt the need to walk the red carpet with a religious figure who resembled a pope.
"He is a major part of the story and movie that I'm writing about one of my alter egos. His name is Roman," Minaj explained. "Basically the religious figure is there because he was called on by Roman's mom to rehabilitate him. That's pretty much it."
After explaining her highly publicized red carpet appearance, Minaj spoke about the vision she had for her controversial performance.
"I had this vision for Roman to be exorcised and people around him tell him that he's not good enough because he's not blending in with the average Joe. His mother is scared and people around him are afraid because they've never seen anything like him," Minaj told Seacrest. "He wanted to show that not only is he amazing and sure of himself and confident, but he's never going to change he's never going to be exercised. So even when they throw the holy water on him, he still rises above."
Still, some Catholics felt that The Recording Academy treated Catholicism unfairly. Marcus Plieninger, Director of Policy Studies for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said the Catholic faith was trashed during the Grammy Awards show.
"Minaj's anti-Catholic performance highlighted not only the decadence but also the selective tolerance rampant in the entertainment industry," Plieninger told The Christian Post. "While the Grammy audience displayed reverence for their own in praying for the late Whitney Houston, there was no such sensitivity shown to Catholics. In fact, by allowing Minaj to perform, The Recording Academy sanctioned the trashing of Catholicism on stage. It is also important to note that they would have never allowed the trashing of Islam."
