Ariana Grande has drawn renewed scrutiny over the state of her relationship with Nicki Minaj after revisiting her Coachella 2019 performance in a recent interview with Vogue, and conspicuously leaving the rapper out of her reflections.
The throwback came as the 32-year-old singer looked back on her historic headlining set at the music festival, breaking down her set list and the surprise guests who joined her onstage.
While she spoke warmly about some collaborators, viewers quickly noticed that Minaj, who had performed with her during the first weekend of Coachella, was never mentioned.
For some fans, the omission has taken on added weight amid Nicki Minaj’s recent political positioning and her public alignment with Donald Trump, a sharp contrast to Grande’s outspoken support for Democratic causes.
Fans are speculating that Ariana Grande has cut ties with Nicki Minaj after omitting her from a Coachella 2019 retrospective
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In the video, Ariana Grande explained that her Coachella performance closely mirrored her Sweetener tour, with a few notable additions.
“The set list for Coachella was pretty much the same as the Sweetener tour, except we added some special guests,” she said.
“I remember we had NSYNC come out with me, which was really cool. We did Tear in My Heart and I got to do the original geography with them, which was the dream of my life.”
The singer later went even further, calling NSYNC “the best boy band.”
Image credits: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
What stood out to fans was that Grande did not acknowledge Nicki Minaj, despite the 43-year-old rapper joining her onstage during the first weekend of Coachella 2019.
Videos from the festival also show that Grande skipped over other guest performers from that weekend, including Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Mase.
The silence extended to the second weekend as well, when Justin Bieber made an unplanned appearance that went unmentioned in Grande’s recap.
The omission was notable given Grande and Minaj’s long history of collaboration
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Before Coachella 2019, the two released their single, Bed, and had previously worked together on tracks that defined a period of both of their careers.
During the festival, Minaj joined Grande for performances of Side to Side and Bang Bang, though the set was marred by technical difficulties.
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Minaj was reportedly unable to hear the music in her earpieces, an issue that became evident mid-performance.
In footage from the show, Grande could be heard telling the crowd, “We can’t hear anything,” while pointing to her ear as Minaj continued singing. The two later exchanged a smile, appearing to brush off the issue.
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That moment was later brought up by fans as the potential reason for Grande’s omission.
“Why would she bring up a performance that was potentially sabotaged?” one asked.
“The performance went down as one of the worst for both of them, due to sound issues rather than their own fault.”
Fans believe the true reason behind the omission is Nicki Minaj’s public support of Donald Trump
The way she didn’t even mention N*cki ijbol pic.twitter.com/z2Wwg4e9OH
— nastyyyy (@tniwannaget) January 27, 2026
“Ariana’s brother is gay, and Nicki has been attacking the Dems and LGBTQ community,” a fan wrote.
“She might not want to outwardly cause drama and vocalize her feelings with Nicki, but that friendship is done.”
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Others provided examples of what they saw as “proof” of their alleged rift.
“Ariana also didn’t acknowledge Nicki with Side to Side when she broke down each of her hit songs that have surpassed 1 billion streams, but praised her other fellow collaborators like Lady Gaga and The Weeknd.
“When will you just accept that their friendship is long gone…”
Image credits: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Last month, Minaj appeared onstage at a Turning Point USA event alongside Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk.
During the event, Minaj expressed admiration for Trump and for JD Vance, who received an endorsement from Kirk.
Grande, by contrast, publicly backed Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election and has continued to use her platform to push forward Democratic causes.
Just last weekend, she reposted a tweet following the fatal sh**ting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The post, shared by the Mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, read:
“As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents s*ot and ki**ed another personal in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.”
“No such thing as sisterhood in Hollywood.” Netizens debated the alleged rift between the two singers
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