Nicki Minaj fans are loving Jenna Ortega’s ‘Monster’ lip-sync: “It’s the national anthem for baddies”

Fans of Nicki Minaj have been praising star Jenna Ortega for rapping to her hit ‘Monster’ on the way to the Met Gala.

READ MORE: Nicki Minaj live in London: ever-polarising rap iconoclast comes back fighting

The Wednesday actor was filmed putting the finishing touches to her look for the annual fashion event: a metallic outfit that was designed by Olivier Rousteing for Balmain. The piece, made of metal rulers, was created for the gala’s theme Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, as well as the dress code which was described as Tailored For You.

While being worked on by her style team, the actor was filmed rapping Minaj’s verse in the 2010 hit monster, the musician’s collaboration with Ye (then known as Kanye West). Ortega was cheered on by her team before smiling at the end of the clip.

Jenna Ortega rapping Nicki Minaj’s "Monster" verse on her way to the met gala pic.twitter.com/FalGfy5LAQ

— welp. (@YSLONIKA) May 7, 2025

Fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted warmly to the clip with one posting: “The hand on hip while rapping Nicki’s verse Jenna really head barb”. Minaj’s fanbase are referred to as Barbz, a reference to one of the artist’s alter-egos, The Harajuku Barbie, and now used to describe fans in general.

the hand on hip while rapping nicki’s verse jenna really head barb pic.twitter.com/mv242TyRpO

— fazpo (@fazpo) May 7, 2025

Others used the clip as an indicator of Ortega’s status, with one writing: “Jenna’s got bars, the Met’s gonna be lit”, and another adding “talent recognises talent”.

Jenna's got bars, the Met's gonna be lit

— FortKnox (@FortKnoxCrypto) May 7, 2025

as she should, talent recognizes talent

— Dr_Xing (@funOBO_ng) May 7, 2025

One user commented on the choice of song, remarking: “This is the national anthem for baddies worldwide”.

This is the national anthem for baddies worldwide https://t.co/pCTH3nc885

— Siren (@aunty_diye) May 8, 2025

At the gala itself, Rihanna turned heads at the event after using her appearance to confirm that she is pregnant with her third child. Also Lorde dropped hints about her forthcoming album ‘Virgin’, and Katy Perry had to confirm to fans that she was not in attendance after deepfakes of her at the event went viral.

Recently, Nicki Minaj shared snippets of new song on Instagram, teasing fans by saying: “I have a surprise”.

The post Nicki Minaj fans are loving Jenna Ortega’s ‘Monster’ lip-sync: “It’s the national anthem for baddies” appeared first on NME.