Elon Musk and Nicki Minaj appear to have struck up an unexpected connection, and it’s leaving plenty of people scratching their heads.
Minaj showed up at SpaceX’s Starship launch event in Texas yesterday (May 21), prompting a wave of reactions online as users tried to make sense of her presence.
“OMG, Nicki Minaj is at Starbase for the Starship V3 launch,” somebody said.
A second questioned: “Why is every celebrity suddenly a space enthusiast when Elon’s around?”
Others framed it as a pop-culture collision no one saw coming.
“Nicki at a SpaceX launch? That’s a crossover nobody expected but somehow makes sense,” a Twitter-user penned. “She loves a spectacle, and Elon loves attention. Whether the rocket launched or not, the photo op already happened.”
During the event, the ‘Starships’ rapper praised what Musk is ‘doing for humanity’.
She said: “Major shoutout to Elon! Elon, thank you for everything you are doing for humanity.”
Musk later reposted a clip of Minaj from the SpaceX live stream, adding: “Welcome to Starbase, @NICKIMINAJ.”
Even though her visit surprised some observers, this wasn’t the first time Minaj and Musk have publicly interacted — they’ve been trading friendly messages for a while.
Welcome to Starbase, @NICKIMINAJ! pic.twitter.com/QhNc3otoXF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2026
Back in March, Minaj referred to Musk as the ‘leader’ of ‘neurodivergents’, in a post that many read as her aligning herself with that label too.
She wrote on Twitter on March 13: “Neurodivergents watching our leader Elon be the richest & smartest while the others realize they’re cooked.”
And the public back-and-forth goes back further still. In November 2025, Minaj boosted a clip of Musk sharing advice about staying motivated in an often bleak world.
In a video shared on social media at the time, Musk said (per Mirror US): “There are a lot of negative things in the world. There are a lot of terrible things that are happening all over the world, all the time. There are lots of problems that need to get solved.”
He went on: “So there are lots of things that are miserable and kind of get you down, but life can not just be about solving one miserable problem after another. That can’t be the only thing.
“There needs to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity.”
Minaj reshared the clip and wrote: “Speak Elon, we’re listening.”
Some fans believe the two may have grown closer through shared political views, particularly their support for Trump.
Musk served as the head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year, while Minaj has expressed support for Trump and his administration multiple times — including sharing and odd AI photo of her and the president.