It’s not everyday you see a rapper and athlete go at it online, but that’s exactly what’s transpiring between Nicki Minaj and NFL star Dez Bryant. But since there’s a lot of wild words and accusations floating around, we thought it best to break it all down for you in a way that makes sense. Let’s get into it.
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How It Started
Thing all popped off three days ago when Bryant took to X/Twitter to air out his grievances against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after he mentioned the players name and alleged that he and Roc Nation walked away from the negotiating table over a decade ago. In response, Bryant warned Jones to keep his name out of his mouth before he opens up about some things that Jones likely doesn’t want aired out.
“JERRY JONES I DONT THINK ITS SMART TO MENTION MY NAME I KEPT QUIET ABOUT A LOT OF UNFAIR SHIT.. ON SOME G SHIT… WE CAN HAVE STORY TIME IF THATS WHAT WE ARE DOING,” he wrote in a post.
Out of nowhere, Nicki Minaj stepped into the conversation and offered to give her own “story time” each time Bryant shared one about the NFL and Jones. While it initially intrigued Bryant, he ultimately decided he wanted no parts in whatever game Minaj was playing when she made it clear in a followup post that her story times were going to be about “ROC NATION, JAYZ & THE ALLEGED RACIST DESIREE PEREZ, ROC NATION CEO.”
However, when Bryant responded and said he was going to respectfully bow it, Minaj blasted him with a news screenshot from 2020 in which is read that he was getting dragged for jumping into a beef the “Chun-Li” rapper was engaged in at the time.
“This just came across my desk…from 2020. I guess you’re one of the guinea pigs they’ve been using to bully ppl for them? Did you think I came over here to play tweetsies wit yo silly ass, sir?” Minaj said. “See the problem with ppl who are always playing, is that they think everyone else is playing, too I’d mind my business if I were you. Be blessed.”
That’s when things went all the way left with Minaj telling Bryant to “go beat his mom,” Bryant calling out Minaj’s husband for being a “sex offender,” and the rapper ultimately offering Bryant $10 million in cash to come and fight her husband.
What’s Really Fact and Fiction?
Given the seriousness of the allegations put forth by both parties in this situation, it’s pertinent that people decipher what’s true and what’s just purely speculation.
Let’s start with Minaj telling Bryant to go “beat up his mom.” That was in reference to a 2012 incident in which the Dallas Cowboys player was arrested for allegedly assaulting his mother. According to ESPN, at the time, a police report detailed that Bryant allegedly “grabbed her by her T-shirt and hair and ‘hit her across the face with his ball cap.’”
She suffered pain in her wrists, hands, and arms, had bruises, and a sore chest from when Bryant allegedly pushed her. As a result, he was charged with a “Class A misdemeanor for assaulting a female family member” and was released a few hours later. Both Bryant and his attorney denied any assault ever took place.
Now, let’s address Bryant calling Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty a sex offender. What is true is that in 2021, Petty pleaded guilty to knowingly failing to register as a sex offender when the couple took up residence in Los Angeles in July 2019 prior to marrying in October later that same year.
Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), failure to register is a federal crime. His status as a registered sex offender stems from a decades-old sexual assault conviction in which he was convicted of attempted first-degree rape and subsequently subsequently sentenced to 18 to 54 months in a New York state prison.
Lastly, Minaj also reposted a claim that Bryant’s father raped his mother, which stems from a 2015 Rolling Stone interview Bryant did in which he revealed that at age 14, his mother was impregnated with him by a man who happened to be his grandmother’s boyfriend at the time. The man was also the father of two of Bryant’s mother’s siblings.
How It Ended
While the harsh words exchanged by Bryant and Minaj are hard to grapple with, it seems their beef may have finally reached its end. After telling Bryant she had $10 million in cash for him to come and beat up her husband, the NFL star said he’d take her up on the offer and sided with Jay-Z and Roc Nation, but the “Pink Friday” rapper has yet to respond directly to that.
“I’ve been lied on my whole career so I’m not trying to hear all of that shit..I thought we was speaking facts.. I don’t play all of that funny shit… go get that 10 million in cash.. I’ll stomp that nigga out right in front of you.. and it’s ROC for life bitch,” Bryant wrote.
As of Tuesday (Aug. 5), Minaj’s ire seems to have somehow moved onto NBA star Shaquille O’Neal but you’re on your own for finding out why on that one. Despite the random mess this cause, here’s hoping there’s a permanent pin in the drama between Minaj and Bryant. There really are more important things for them to do besides go back and forth on social media.
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