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Nicki Minaj sues gossip blogger, Mattel drops case over rapper’s snacks

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 15 September 2022

Nicki Minaj has sued celebrity gossip vlogger Nosey Heaux – real name Marley Green – for defamation after she called the rapper a “cokehead” in a video on social media earlier this week.

In the video posted on Monday, Green told followers that Minaj is “shoving all this cocaine, shoving in all this cocaine up her nose. Allegedly. Thank you. Allegedly”.

Adding “allegedly” to a statement is a long-used tactic to try to avoid defamation lawsuits when making controversial allegations about other people in public, of course. Although Green then undermined that by adding: “But we all know it’s true. Fuck, listen, I can’t even say allegedly with that cos I, we all know it’s true. I’m not saying allegedly on that. Nicki Minaj is a cokehead”.

Minaj has taken a dim view on this, and her lawsuit – according to TMZ – states that Green is a “nobody” whose “main accomplishments in life have been a string of criminal charges, bail jumping and bad debts”. Nonetheless, it goes on, she has gained an audience on social media and says that the recent video has gained over 2000 likes and more 250 retweets on Twitter, bringing it to wide attention.

The lawsuit is seeking damages of $75,000. That’s a relatively low amount for a case such as this, but, says Minaj’s attorney Judd Burstein, they expect it to been significant to Green.

“When this case is over, she will no longer be permitted to use the name ‘Nosey Heaux’ because we will take her trademark from her when she does not have enough money to pay the judgment”, says Burstein. “Anyone else who spreads lies about Nicki will suffer a similar fate. My marching orders are to aggressively sue anyone with a media or social media following who damages her with intentional lies. Eventually, the lesson will be learned”.

This case follows Cardi B’s successful defamation lawsuit against another vlogger, Latasha Kebe, after she said in a video that the rapper “was a prostitute … was a user of cocaine … had and still has herpes … had and still has HPV … engaged in a debasing act with a beer bottle and … committed infidelity”. Kebe is currently appealing that $4 million judgement.

Back to Minaj-related legal news now though, and toy maker Mattel has dropped a case against food company Rap Snacks over its Minaj-endorsed Barbie-Que Honey Truffle Potato Chips.

Minaj – who refers to herself as Barbie and her fanbase as The Barbz – launched the snack in June via a partnership with Rap Snacks. In its subsequent legal action, Mattel claimed that – when launching the Minaj-endorsed crisps – Rap Snacks “made the deliberate and calculated choice to launch a new product line using Mattel’s famous Barbie trademark”.

In a new filing yesterday, Mattel asked the judge to dismiss the case, a settlement having been reached. Terms of that settlement are not known, but it comes after Rap Snacks changed the name of the crisps to Bar-B-Quin With My Honey Truffle. Not as snappy of course, but if it avoids going to court, maybe it’s worth it. You can buy those alongside other Minaj crisp flavours Sour Cream Ranch Truffle and Salt & Vinegar Truffle, both of which sound revolting.