Mariah Carey compares Nicki Minaj to Satan

R&B diva Mariah Carey and pop-rapper Nicki Minaj had no love lost between them when they appeared on the judging panel of American Idol together, and Mariah still doesn't remember the time fondly, telling a US radio interviewer that it was like "going to work in Hell every day, with Satan." She added that she "hated" the show, despite the "nice, dangling... monetary moment" that the producers gave her, presumably referring to her paycheque.

Although she doesn't name Minaj in the interview, she is likely referring to her fellow judge, with whom she had a series of spats during the show's run. Beefs ranged from Carey mocking Minaj's lack of knowledge of the film Mean Girls as well as her choice of headgear (a fur-lined marching band hat), to Minaj calling Carey a "bitch" and passive-aggressively complimenting her on her vocal range. Minaj later went onto Twitter: "Shes sad i tied her record for Hot 100 entries in only 3 years of being in the game. Yep, a black female rapper... What u SHOULD be doing... is asking why a woman SO successful at her age, is still so INSECURE, and bitter."

And that's just what was made public – footage that gossip site TMZ obtained during the show's run showed the pair feuding between takes, with Minaj saying "Say one more disrespectful thing to me, if you say one more disrespectful thing to me, off with your head!... I'm not fucking putting up with your fucking highness over there," with Carey responding, "why do I have a 3-year-old sitting around me?"

With impeccable timing, Carey's now rather ironically titled new single The Art Of Letting Go was premiered earlier this week.