American rapper Nicki Minaj has announced plans to take legal action against a Nigerian social media influencer, Dr Penking, over an old video clip he shared on X (formerly Twitter) along with comments suggesting she should retire due to her age .
The controversy began on Saturday when Dr Penking posted a video of the 43-year-old rapper with the caption, “Nicki Minaj should understand that she has gotten old and retire” . The post quickly gained traction, amassing over 52,000 likes and millions of views .
In a now-deleted response, Minaj questioned whether the influencer had permission to use the footage and accused him of harassment.
“Do you have permission to use this video that I filmed years ago to harass me on this or any platform? You’ve just been added to the suit,” she wrote, reportedly tagging her legal team in the post .
Dr Penking has refused to back down, defending his comments as protected free speech. In a lengthy reply, he stated that he and his team are prepared to face any legal challenge.
“Freedom of speech and expression is supreme in all constitutions in the world and I have the right to express my opinion at all times,” he wrote .
He argued that his statement was based on publicly available information, adding, “Is she old? Yes she is 43. There is nothing harassing about this. It is a publicly accessible information on Wikipedia. Should she retire? I think she should. That’s my personal opinion and I stand by it” .
The influencer, described as a Nigerian doctor with over 250,000 followers on X and more than 100,000 on TikTok, also clarified that he only quoted a video originally posted by a fan page called “Hourly Minaj,” insisting that content on X is “open source” .
The dispute has generated divided reactions across social media platforms. Some users have defended Dr Penking’s right to express his opinion, while others have accused him of body-shaming one of hip-hop’s most influential artists .
Legal observers have noted potential challenges in enforcing a United States court judgment against someone based in Nigeria, should the case proceed to litigation . As of now, there are no publicly available court filings confirming that the Nigerian user has been formally added to any lawsuit .
