Nicki Minaj Calls Steven Tyler’s Slam of Current Crop Of ‘Idol’ Judges “Racist”

American Idol judge Nicki Minaj today says it’s “racist” of Steven Tyler to predict that she’d probably send Bob Dylan back to “the cornfield” if he appeared as a contestant on the Fox show. The current judge’s backlash on Twitter against the former Idol judge came after Tyler unfavorably compared the present panel to when he was on the show. “If it was Bob Dylan, Nicki Minaj would have had him sent to the cornfield! Whereas, if it was Bob Dylan with us, we would have brought the best of him out, as we did with Phillip Phillips. Just saying,” the Aerosmith lead singer told MTV News Monday. “I know that they’ve got something going on on the judges’ panel, [and] it shouldn’t be that, it should be just the opposite. They should have something going on, which is called ‘camaraderie,’” Tyler said in reference to rumors of in-fighting on the judge’s panel between Minaj and Mariah Carrey. Minaj, who was officially announced as one of the replacements to the departing Tyler and Jennifer Lopez in September, responded with a flurry of tweets today. “You assume that I wouldn’t have liked Bob Dylan??? why? black? rapper? what? go fuck yourself and worry about yourself babe,” Minaj added on Twitter. “When Steven 1st went on Idol he was ridiculed by his peers & fans alike. Called a sell out. So what does he do? Ridicule the next judge,” she said later this afternoon. Tyler was a judge on American Idol from 2010 to 2012. Both he and Lopez left earlier this year. Minaj, along with country star Keith Urban, joined Carey and long-term judge Randy Jackson this season.