Top allies to President Donald Trump defended rapper Nicki Minaj after POLITICO reported Monday on allegations the artist is being amplified by an army of bots on social media — especially on her posts about right-leaning causes.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and Trump media adviser Alex Bruesewitz attacked a report by the disinformation detection company Cyabra that said Minaj’s social media posts are riddled with fake replies and engagement. Bruesewitz alleged the company’s findings were compromised due to its relationships with hip-hop figures aligned with Minaj’s enemies.
“This story is 100% BS! @NICKIMINAJ, the most popular female rapper of all time, does not need ‘bots’ to promote her on social media,” Bruesewitz wrote Monday morning.
Waltz wrote that Minaj’s popularity is evidence that the bot allegation is untrue.
“I also don’t think the most popular female rapper of all time needs “bots” to boost her content on social media,” Waltz said.
Minaj has not weighed in on POLITICO’s article, which exclusively detailed how Cyabra analyzed her X account and found it was propped up by thousands of bots. Cyabra said it was approximately 85 percent confident that out of 55,469 profiles evaluated, nearly 19,000 were inauthentic. The report was commissioned by a person who was granted anonymity because they fear public retaliation.
The company’s CEO, Dan Brahmy, refuted the attacks from Bruesewitz and Waltz in a statement.
“Cyabra’s analysis of the substantial bot amplification is scientific and data driven,” he said. “It has not been influenced by any party. Any assertion to the contrary is false.”
In the hours following POLITICO’s report, Bruesewitz and Minaj’s devoted fan base fixated on links between Cyabra and people in the hip-hop world opposed to Minaj. The rapper Cardi B, Minaj’s archenemy, also engaged in a tennis-match-style back and forth with Bruesewitz.
Bruesewitz attempted to discredit Cyabra’s report on X by pointing out that Roc Nation Chief Digital Officer David Wander and Cardi B’s agent, Mike Guirguis, both sit on Cyabra’s Brand & Entertainment Council, according to a since-deleted Cyabra webpage. Minaj and her fan base have also long viewed Roc Nation as an enemy. The company represents Megan Thee Stallion, another female rapper opposed to Minaj. Roc Nation was founded by Jay-Z, whom Minaj alleges shortchanged her when he sold his streaming service Tidal.
A representative for Roc Nation did not respond to a request for comment. Cardi B did not immediately respond either.
“Cyabra is a data company with a lot of investors like Mike G, customers like Elon Musk and Pepsi that use that company for data and even has Mike Pompeo on the board of advisors,” Cardi B wrote in a post to Bruesewitz. “So what you need to focus on is the fact that data is VERY real and leave me out of your bullshit. … I am still gonna sue you, you wet dirty dog.”
Bruesewitz said he believed Cyabra’s tools were “unreliable” long before POLITICO’s article. He told POLITICO Monday that he found the company to be “unsophisticated compared to competitors in the space.”
Waltz’s office did not respond to a request for comment on why he believed Cyabra’s findings were incorrect.
Guirguis said in a post on X that “my advisory role and investment in Cyabra along with multiple other tech companies has absolutely nothing to do with Cardi B.”
“Cardi doesn’t need bots, narratives, or manufactured noise,” he said. “She moves culture on her own. I invest in innovation. I represent artists. Those are separate lanes.”
Cardi B and Bruesewitz have engaged in eight separate posts attacking each other, including one which appeared to be deleted by Cardi B. The rapper pointed out that her agent also represents Lil Wayne, who owns the record label Minaj previously signed onto.
“Why don’t you mention Mike G also represents LIL WAYNE? Isn’t that your friend CEO?” Cardi B wrote to Bruesewitz.
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