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Nicki Minaj Criticized For New Video Evoking Nazi Style
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 10, 2014
Modified Nov 10, 2014
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 10, 2014
Modified Nov 10, 2014
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In her new video for "Only," Nicki Minaj plays the part of a dictator with an uncomfortable number of similarities to Adolf Hitler. The video, directed by Jeff Osborne, also features animated versions of Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, and Drake, who are all featured on the song. The entire thing is heavy on the Nazi imagery, and a recurring focal point is her record label Young Money's logo, which is designed to look like a swastika. This seems like a terrible branding idea!
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says they are "deeply disturbed by the unadulterated Nazi imagery in the video... [which] evokes the style of Nazi propaganda films and portrays Minaj as a military dictator surrounded by red banners resembling those used by the Nazi Party during World War II. Ranks of solders are shown with red armbands mirroring those worn by Nazi soldiers."
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor, released the following statement:
"Nicki Minaj’s new video disturbingly evokes Third Reich propaganda and constitutes a new low for pop culture’s exploitation of Nazi symbolism. The irony should be lost on no one that this video debuted on the 76th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass” pogrom that signaled the beginning of the Final Solution and the Holocaust.
"It is troubling that no one among Minaj’s group of producers, publicists and managers raised a red flag about the use of such imagery before ushering the video into public release.
"This video is insensitive to Holocaust survivors and a trivialization of the history of that era. The abuse of Nazi imagery is deeply disturbing and offensive to Jews and all those who can recall the sacrifices Americans and many others had to make as a result of Hitler’s Nazi juggernaut."
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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