Nicki Minaj’s MAGA turn has been partly fueled by an army of bot accounts on X, according to a new report shared with Politico.
Put together by the disinformation company Cyabra, the report analyzed engagement tied to 51 “political-related posts” on Minaj’s X account between Nov. 11 and Dec. 22, just as the rapper was cementing her new place as a right-wing darling. Of the more than 55,000 profiles interacting with these posts, Cyabra found at least 33 percent (nearly 19,000) were likely fake. The established benchmarks for fake accounts present in “organic social media discourse” typically ranges between seven and 10 percent, the report noted.
“Based on the scale, concentration, and behavioral alignment of the inauthentic activity identified,” the report reads, “Cyabra assesses with high confidence that a coordinated fake campaign was actively amplifying political content” on Minaj’s X account.” (The person who commissioned the report from Cyabra was not identified for fear of public retaliation.)
One of the big indicators of inauthenticity Cyabra cited was a “linguistic and stylistic uniformity” among the allegedly fake accounts. When Minaj was being criticized, the report found that allegedly fake accounts responded with support that used “highly similar language and messaging.”
While some shared “longer, more detailed comments designed to appear organic,” the report described many posts as “brief, repetitive, and low in semantic complexity.” These were meant to “shape the overall tone of the discussion through scale rather than persuasion,” the report claimed. (Though perhaps unsurprisingly, the report found that toxic content tied to Minaj’s posts enjoyed “enjoyed “substantially stronger amplification.”)
These allegedly fake profiles, the report added, were often posting alongside authentic users and “adopting engagement rhythms that closely mirrored organic behavior.” Such patterns, the report continued, suggested “a deliberate attempt to integrate into genuine conversations, increasing the credibility and visibility of the amplified content.”
Cyabra’s report also found some overlap between accounts boosting Minaj’s posts, and those amplifying content from Turning Point USA, the right-wing group founded by Charlie Kirk.
Speaking with Politico, Cyabra’s CEO and founder, Dan Brahmy, said, “We don’t really see a lot of high volume, high impact orchestration of bad and fake actors within that intersection of the geopolitically driven and music culture. It is scarce in our field to see the combination of the bad and the fake online world with the entertainment world.”
Similarly, Cyabra found that Minaj’s posts and talking points were being amplified by plenty of authentic accounts, including popular conservative influencers like Dom Lucre and Matt Wallace. Not only were these figures echoing some of Minaj’s political content, they also began sharing some of her music industry grievances, with posts attacking Kendrick Lamar and Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge.
Cyabra’s CEO and founder, Dan Brahmy said this suggested some kind of strategic coordination, saying, “Real human beings are behaving the exact same way, utilizing the exact same behavioral patterns, as you would expect from a well coordinated campaign. They amplify each other. They are riding the same, similar wave of narrative.”
Lucre rebuffed the suggestion, attacking the Politico piece on social media. “Nicki Minaj is now pulling so many liberals to the right that they now have to push out a theory that these aren’t real organic people, and that she’s now manipulating the system with bots,” he said. “If Nicki Minaj was manipulating systems with bots on Instagram, TikTok, X, do you not think there would be a conclusive data that they would have to present this instead of asking influencers to say yes?”
Rolling Stone’s attempts to reach Minaj were unsuccessful. Alex Bruesewitz, a friend of Minaj’s and political advisor to Donald Trump, told Politico, “Nicki has never used bot activity to promote herself on social media, because she doesn’t need to. She has one of the largest fan bases of any musician that’s alive today.”
Contacted for further comment as part of Rolling Stone’s outreach to Minaj, Bruesewitz reiterated this sentiment: “The notion that she would rely on bots for online support is utterly absurd,” he wrote in an email. “Cyabra is partnered with Roc Nation’s Chief Digital Officer, David Wander, and Cardi B’s agent, Mike G. Given that Nicki has had long-standing, public feuds with both Jay-Z/Roc Nation and Cardi B, this allegation seems to be a 100% fabricated hoax.” (G, a partner at United Talent Agency, and Wander both sit on the Cyabra Brand & Entertainment Council. A representative for Roc Nation did not return a request for comment.)
After Bruesewitz shared similar claims on X, Cardi B pushed back, noting that that Cyabra’s past customers include Elon Musk and Pepsi, and that Mike G also reps Lil Wayne. (“Isn’t that your friend CEO?” Cardi wrote, referring to Wayne’s role as the founder of Young Money Entertainment.) “You wanna involve me so bad for what but don’t wanna talk about none of the facts,” Cardi wrote.
Mike G also chimed in, writing, “Let’s be clear: 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. She moves culture on her own. I invest in innovation. I represent artists. Those are separate lanes. Trying to spin this into something else is lazy and misleading.”
Interestingly, for all the focus on Minaj’s shifting politics, Cyabra concluded that the purpose of this alleged bot campaign was more personal than ideological. The goal, the report stated, was to focus “on reinforcing visible support for Nicki Minaj… in order to manufacture the appearance of broad public endorsement and a supportive fan base.”
TRNDY Social Teams Up With Howie Mandel on “Howie Mandel Does Stuff”