Nicki Minaj Accepts Shannon Sharpe’s Apology After “Banned From NO” Diss

Shannon Sharpe is setting the record straight and extending an olive branch to Nicki Minaj after she called him out on Lil Wayne’s new single, “Banned from NO (Remix).”

In the track, Nicki rapped,

“‘Bout to cop you slides, all you do is flip-flop / If I send a pic of Shannon, you ain’t that Sharpe,”

—a bar that many interpreted as a jab at the former NFL star turned media personality. The line seemingly responded to Sharpe’s previous comment, “Nicki who?” after a fan suggested the rapper appear on his Club Shay Shay podcast.

Addressing the situation on a recent episode of his Nightcap show, Sharpe cleared the air and explained that his original remark had been misunderstood.

“I used to go back and forth with people. I was talking about Nikki Haley… Nikki Haley said, ‘It’s really great for everybody of Black America,’ and I was like…‘When has it ever been great?’” Sharpe explained.

He made it clear that there was never any ill intent behind his words.

“Nicki, I was not trying to be disrespectful. Of course, I know who you are. 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.”

Sharpe then offered a sincere and direct 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.”

He closed by acknowledging her reaction and validating her feelings.

“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.”

Nicki Minaj responded graciously—and humorously. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), she wrote:

“LOL – well we got a funny lil rap bar out of it. Thank you, Shannon b/c I was like ‘chiiii what I done did now?’ You never cleared it up to the Barbz so I had to avenge them. Ochocinco, you know it’s all love 4LIFE but I know you laughed when you heard it.”

In the end, the moment turned from misunderstanding to mutual respect, with both Sharpe and Minaj showing maturity, humor, and grace.