Shannon Sharpe is offering an apology to Nicki Minaj after she threw shade his way on Lil Wayne’s newly dropped “Banned From NO” remix.
On the track, released Wednesday, June 11, Minaj takes aim with the lines: “‘Bout to cop you slides, all you do is flip-flop / If I send a pic of Shannon, you ain’t that Sharpe.”
Shannon Sharpe is clearing the air and apologizing to Nicki Minaj after she threw a lyrical jab at him on the remix of Lil Wayne’s “Banned From NO,” released Wednesday, June 11.
Minaj fired off with the line: “‘Bout to cop you slides, all you do is flip-flop / If I send a pic of Shannon, you ain’t that Sharpe.” The bar appeared to be a response to a February 2024 tweet from Sharpe that read, “Nicki who?” after a fan mentioned her possibly appearing on his Club Shay Shay podcast.
But according to Sharpe, that tweet wasn’t about Minaj at all.
Speaking on his Nightcap show, Sharpe explained that the comment was actually made in the middle of a political debate, not a pop culture moment. “I used to go back and forth with people. I was talking about Nikki Haley,” he said, referencing the former Republican presidential candidate. “Nikki Haley said it’s really great for everybody of Black America, and I was like … ‘When has it ever been great?’ So somebody says Nicki really wants to come on your podcast. I’m like, ‘Nicki who?’”
Sharpe went on to make it clear he meant no disrespect. “Nicki, I was not trying to be disrespectful. Of course I know who you are,” he said. “I would be remiss to say that I thought you knew who I was, or that you knew anything about Club Shay Shay. I’m not that arrogant.”
He continued with a heartfelt apology: “Nicki, I apologize. I meant no disrespect. You’ll always have an open invitation if you ever want to come sit down and have a conversation. Even if you just want to have a private conversation on the phone or something. It won’t go any further between you and I.”
Later in the video, Sharpe added, “That was not my intent, but intent only matters to me because clearly you’re still offended. So I apologize sincerely and hopefully we can move forward.”
Sharpe’s original remark was likely sparked by a January 2024 Fox News interview in which Nikki Haley claimed, “We’re not a racist country. We’ve never been a racist country,” a comment that drew widespread backlash.
