Nicki Minaj Recounts Her Fight for Meek Mill's Freedom, Says Judge 'Gave Him Another Chance'

In a new interview with 'Elle Magazine,' Nicki Minaj speaks favorably of Meek Mill's questionable judge, Genece Brinkley, calling her "sweet" and "maternal."

Just one day after Meek Mill’s request to have his questionable judge replaced was denied again, a new cover story features Meek’s ex Nicki Minaj once again speaking about the rapper's controversial case. 

In an interview with Elle, Nicki mirrors some previous comments she’s made about Judge Genece Brinkley. “I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” Nicki told the magazine, referring to Meek's decade-long legal battle stemming from a 2008 conviction. “But I’m also not gonna bad-mouth a judge who...because anything I say stays on the record.”

Nicki then takes the conversation a step further. “I know that when I went there pleading for his freedom, I know that she spoke to me and was very sweet and maternal, and we both cried in her chambers, and she gave him another chance,” she said. “So I don’t know what’s going on.”

These comments makes it seem like Minaj is siding with the judge, if not at least sympathizing with her, which is how she came across in her Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe back in April. “I will say that the judge in question did everything I asked of her," Minaj said at the time. "So, I can’t bad-mouth her because I met her personally, and I know what she said to us. And he knows that, and I know that.”

During an interview with The Breakfast Club, Meek criticized Minaj for her comments to Lowe. “I wasn't feeling that. She shouldn't had said nothing. And we leave it at that,” he said. “I don't feel no way. She know I wasn't feeling that."

Minaj’s new interview appears to counter Meek and his lawyer’s claim that while the couple was dating Minaj witnessed an inappropriate incident where the judge asked him to record a Boys II Men cover for her and displayed an “unusual” interest in his management team. Brinkley has consistently refuted those claims. "She never asked me to sing,” Minaj told Elle

Meek is currently out on bail before his appeal begins June 18. During the appeal, his lawyers plan to focus on the credibility of Philadelphia policeman Reginald Graham, who was the only witness to testify at the rapper’s trial in 2008. Graham has a history of dishonest behavior or racial bias when testifying, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

Latest in Music