Trevor Noah kicked off the 68th Annual Grammy Awards with his trademark mix of sharp wit, playful satire, and a pinch of political commentary, and this year, one of his biggest zingers was aimed at someone who wasn’t even in the room. That someone? Nicki Minaj.
Noah, hosting the Grammys for what he’s said will be his final time, used his opening monologue to poke fun at the rapper’s recent MAGA-leaning public moments, and the crowd ate it up. In one of the night’s most talked-about jokes, he quipped that Minaj was “still at the White House with Donald Trump” instead of being at the music world’s biggest awards show.
“Nicki Minaj Is Not Here…” and the Crowd Lost It
lol at the entire Grammys audience cheering when Trevor Noah announced that Nicki Minaj was NOT in attendance pic.twitter.com/RNQhZPanSd
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) February 2, 2026
Noah didn’t waste time building up to the joke. After warming up the audience with light crowd work and celebrity shout-outs, he pointed out, “Nicki Minaj is not here.” That alone got a big reaction. Then he delivered the punchline: “She’s still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues.”
The crowd burst into laughter, and yes, there was applause. Chrissy Teigen was even caught on camera giving a thumbs-up, embracing the shade with theatrical enthusiasm.
To really sell it, Noah slipped into a mock Trump voice, joking, “Actually, Nicki, I have the biggest ass. I have it. Everybody’s saying it, Nicki. I know they say it’s you, but it’s me. Wap, wap, wap. Look at it. Look at it, baby.” The callback to the viral Nicki Minaj anthem added an extra layer of comedic absurdity to the moment.
It was classic Noah: playful, biting, and totally tuned to the moment.
Nicki’s Recent White House Tour
So why was Trevor Noah riffing on Minaj’s political life?
In recent months, Nicki Minaj has increasingly positioned herself as a visible political ally of former President Donald Trump, a shift that has surprised even longtime fans. Her support moved from online commentary into the spotlight when she appeared at a Trump-led event in Washington, DC, where she openly praised him, held his hand onstage, and referred to herself as one of his biggest supporters.
Minaj also publicly backed the administration’s new child savings initiative, announcing plans to donate to the program and framing her involvement as personal rather than performative. The moment marked a notable departure from her previously cautious or critical tone around politics, especially on issues like immigration and public health.
Since then, she has continued echoing Trump-aligned messaging and appearing alongside conservative figures, making it clear this is not a one-off moment but a deliberate alignment. The shift has sparked intense debate online, with most fans struggling to reconcile the move with the Nicki Minaj they thought they knew.
Mixed but Loud Reactions
As soon as clips of Noah’s monologue hit social media, fans piled in with reactions. Many praised the line as timely and hilarious, celebrating how deftly Noah delivered the punch without descending into meanness. A widely shared clip on Reddit captured users laughing at the “Nicki Minaj is not here” moment, with some calling it one of the night’s funniest burns.
Still, not all reactions were purely about comedy. Some users interpreted the joke as sharp political commentary or commentary on how Minaj’s absence reflected a shift in priorities. One fan quipped that the audience’s cheering at her absence added an extra layer to the moment, turning the joke into a sort of cultural feedback loop.
Other fans took a more pointed approach in their replies, some criticizing Minaj’s recent political gestures, others defending her right to make her own choices. The mix of reactions shows just how tangled celebrity, politics, and comedy have become in 2026 pop culture conversations.
Noah’s Final Grammys Run
This wasn’t the only joke Noah cracked in his monologue. He bounced between playful celebrity jabs, nostalgic throwbacks, and topical humor, taking a moment to reflect on Lauryn Hill’s return to the Grammy stage and how much the world has changed since her last major performance.
But his take on Minaj stood out because it tied together his sharp comedic instincts with something bigger: the very public cultural moment around a star crossing into political waters in a way not many entertainers have done recently. That blend of music, politics, personality, and public reaction is exactly the kind of thing that keeps award-show monologues trending long after the show ends.
Why This Resonated and Won’t Be Forgotten
Noah’s joke works on a few levels. It’s funny, clearly, since people in the room and online reacted with laughter and applause. It’s topical, it references recent real-world events involving a major artist and a former president. And it’s self-aware, it acknowledges the collision between the glittering world of music awards and the messy, very public world of 2026 political culture.
And in the end, it turned Nicki Minaj’s absence into one of the night’s most talked-about moments, even without her being onstage. In that sense, Noah’s joke did more than roast a headline. It amplified it, made it part of the cultural conversation, and gave fans and critics alike something to dissect, laugh about, and share.
That’s just about the best you can ask for from an awards-show opening monologue in 2026.