Nicki Minaj and her ex-boyfriend Safaree Samuels have been all over the headlines in recent days, following Nicki’s Funk Flex interview and both parties’ subsequent tweetstorms. But the ex-couple has a very long history, and this is far from their first public confrontation. Below, a history of their key moments.
2002: Nicki Joins Hood$tars
July 2011: Altercation in Dallas
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Nicki and Safaree get into a scuffle in a Dallas hotel. Nicki claims that Safaree hither in the face with a suitcase, cutting the inside of her lip.
December 2011: Engagement Rumors
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As Nicki rises to fame, Safaree is around as her hype man, but their relationship is kept quiet. She later explains to GQ that the silence was a business decision.
“When I came in the business, you couldn’t tell people you were in a relationship, because record company and management said that doesn't make you appealing to men. So don't tell people you’re in a relationship,” she says.
So it catches fans’ attention when Nicki is spotted wearing a big diamond ring—something that sparks speculation that she and Safaree are engaged.
October 2014: First Reports of a Breakup
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In late October, Safaree is seen in public with his Nicki tattoos covered up. Just days later, TMZ reports that he and Nicki are no longer a couple. The reason? “[H]e became uncontrollably jealous of her success.”
December 2014: ‘An Emotional Wreck’
Image via Getty/Jeffrey Mayer
TMZ claims that Safaree is having “suicidal thoughts.” The gossip site says that Safaree is convinced that Meek Mill destroyed their relationship with false cheating accusations.
January 2015: Safaree Claims Co-Writing Credit
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January 2015: Safaree Backtracks
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Not long after the interview, Safaree changes his tune. He tweets, “She is wayyy more than capable of writing a album on her own without me! shes not a dumb person, so its easy for smart ppl to come up with the witty and smart things that she says! i dnt kno about other ppl but i kno when it comes to writing flow n delivery she is 1 of the best if not the best.she has her style i have mine. so stop saying i write her stuff! not true!!! she sits w/a pen&pad &does it herself!”
June 2015: The Response Track, Pt. 1
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November 2015: First Reports of a Lawsuit
October 2016: Safaree Reveals He’s Dropping the Suit
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In an interview with Rap-Up, Safaree says he’s not going through with his lawsuit against Nicki.
“I dropped everything,” he says. “I’d started a process and then I was like, ‘It is what it is. If you want to deal with it like that, go ahead. I ain’t trippin’.’ I’m doing a lot and I don’t want to have to deal with depositions and courts and all of that. Ain’t nobody threatened me. Ain’t nobody make me do it. At the end of the day, I didn’t even wanna do it. I just know if it was me and the shoe was on the other foot, I’d handle it and just say, ‘Peace out. Here. Do what you gotta do. That’s it.’ But I just dropped it.”
Nicki sits down with Funk Flex, ostensibly to promote her new album, Queen. Instead, talk turns to the early days of her career. She starts by going in on Safaree’s on-again-off-again ghostwriting claims.
"It don't give you a right to lie about someone's craft just because you know that they're a woman and people will believe you. So now, years later, you want to come back and say 'I lied' after you've tried to tarnish my image,” she says. And in a surreal, full-circle moment, she actually speaks to Lou$tar on the phone to talk about Safaree’s role in Hood$tars. (“He was the hypeman,” Lou$tar explains).
From there, things get crazier. In the interview and ensuingtweets, Nicki accuses Safaree of hiring escorts while they were together,and subsequently stealing their credit cards. She also says that she ponied up $10,000 to fix her ex’s hairline.
Safaree sees all of thisand responds on Twitter. “I didn't use your card for prostitutes,” he says. He then accuses her of “messing with meek a few years b4 y’all got together.” And then things turn really serious.
“Remember the night you cut me and i almost died the police and ambulance had to take me out the crib on a stretcher and I had to lie and tell them I was trying to kill myself so they wouldn't take you to jail,” he continues. And the following day, he claims the whole exchange was a victory:
In the aftermath of the interview and Twitter exchange, a TMZ reporter says that there is footage backing up Safaree’s most shocking claim.
“We’ve actually seen the video here at TMZ, back in 2014, that shows Nicki chasing Safaree with a knife,” Van Lathan tells a radio station. “We should say, don’t know what happened after that. Couples get into it; sometimes things get heated. There’s no reason why you should be chasing someone with a knife, but we don’t know if Nicki actually stabbed him with a knife.”
