Forget celebrities reacting to Eminem at the Oscars. Try Nicki reacting to drag queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Television’s greatest drag-based reality-competition series had its season 12 premiere last night, and in proud Drag Race tradition, it invited an A-list royal to be the first guest judge of the season. Nicki Minaj, she of “Anaconda†Lip Sync for Your Life fame, graced the main stage in edge-to-toe crimson to judge a rap-based maxi challenge and leave these seven new girls on red. Surprising absolutely no one, Nicki was a perfect match for Drag Race. She served face. She served body. She served constructive criticism. She even wrote a freestyle Rugirl verse on her Notes app. Below are GIFs of every highlight, including her highlighter-yellow nails.
First, to set the mood, here are the werkroom reactions when the contestants learned they’d be performing for Nicki.
Here she is pulling a Drag Race first: walking down the runway to “Covergirl†in lieu of Mama Ru. She knew it was the queen’s entrance. It’s Nicki Minaj’s Drag Race, now.
Aaaaaaand wiggling off the stage.
As far as RuGirl group numbers go, “I’m That Bitch†ain’t bad, ain’t bad at all.
This was the “Idina Menzel watching Eminem†moment of the night.
Oy, what a cherub!
Giving Crystal the coveted Nicki thumbs-up.
She means it in a nice way. Gigi’s verse? Was Goode!
When you find out Heidi was serving Linda Blair special-effect moves after a hospitalization.
SLAYANA ALL DAY.
You know you’re part of the family when you exchange a little side-eye moment with Michelle Visage.
[Eye roll.]
To wrap up, here’s just a bunch of GIFs of Nicki reacting to the “Starships†Lip Sync for Your Life. What a great start to the season!
Epic! Epic epic epic epic!
*blows a kiss*