Nicki Minaj Explains Why She Thinks Some Celebrities Haven’t Spoken Out About Recent Police Killings

Nicki Minaj is convinced many stars are too scared to talk publicly about the recent police killings in the U.S. after Kanye West was “torn apart” for speaking out about social justice issues.

The rapper has opened up about the controversial subject in a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, criticizing the grand jury decision not to indict a cop for the killing of Eric Garner, who died in police custody in New York.

However, Minaj admits many fellow celebrities are unsure whether to speak out on the thorny issue because of West’s treatment after he declared “George (W.) Bush doesn’t care about black people” when referring to the former U.S. President’s response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.

Minaj says, “It’s sickening (the Garner case), and I’ve been reading so many people saying, ‘Why are we surprised?’ That’s what’s really sad: that we should somehow be used to being treated like animals… I feel like when Public Enemy were doing Fight the Power, we as a culture had more power – now it feels hopeless. People say, ‘Why aren’t black celebrities speaking out more?’ But look what happened to Kanye when he spoke out. People told him to apologize to Bush! He was the unofficial spokesman for hip-hop, and he got torn apart. And now you haven’t heard him speaking about these last couple things, and it’s sad. Because how many times can you be made to feel horrible for caring about your people before you say, ‘F**k it, it’s not worth it, let me live my life because I’m rich, and why should I give a f**k?'”

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