Janelle Monae rips Nelly during Grammys afterparty for performing at Trump’s inauguration: 'You sold out'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Janelle Monae had some choice words for Nelly at a Grammys afterparty on Sunday night, February 2. The singer and actress took direct aim at the St Louis rapper over his decision to perform at Donald Trump’s inaugural ball.

While covering Nelly’s early 2000s smash hit 'Hot in Herre', Monae abruptly switched gears and unleashed a freestyle that raised eyebrows in the crowd. "F**k you, Nelly!" Monae declared. “I used to like Nelly but then he went to perform for Donald Trump.”

Janelle Monae calls out Nelly

"I care about women. I care about Hispanics. I care about Spanish people. I care about Mexicans. I care about gay people," Janelle Monae continued, building up to a brutal conclusion. “I used to think he was cool, but now you look like a m***********g fool… F**k you, N-word. Get a new attitude… I might be a little tipsy but I know everything I’m m***********g saying. F**k you, Nelly!”

The afterparty — which was hosted at a bar co-owned by Anderson Paak — was meant to be a night of celebration following the 67th annual Grammy Awards. Instead, Monae’s impromptu performance became the biggest headline of the night.

Nelly’s Trump inauguration controversy resurfaces

Nelly’s decision to perform at Trump’s Liberty Inaugural Ball was met with major backlash when it was first announced, and Monae’s onstage rant appears to have rekindled that controversy.

Their criticism comes just weeks after Nelly defended himself in a live-streamed conversation with rapper Willie D, where he insisted that his performance wasn’t political and had nothing to do with endorsing Trump, Variety reported.

"This is not me telling you, ‘Yo, you should vote for this candidate,’" Nelly said at the time. “I think you should do your homework and figure out what best helps you and the people who you love and you provide for because I’m clueless on a lot of things when it gets down to it.”

According to Nelly, he wasn’t trying to push any political agenda—he was just performing. To him, it was about respecting the office of the presidency, regardless of who was in it.

"The politics, for me, is over. [Trump] won! He’s the president. He’s the commander in chief of what I would like to say is the best country in the world … It is an honor for me to perform for the president of the United States, regardless of who is in office," he explained.

Nelly insisted that if Joe Biden or Kamala Harris had won and asked him to perform, he would have done the exact same thing.

"If President Biden would’ve asked me to perform, I would’ve performed. If Vice-President Kamala Harris would’ve won and asked me to perform, I would’ve performed … I didn’t know that you was riding with me because you thought I would ride for who you voted for. I didn’t know that I had to agree with your political choices," he said. "If you follow what I do, this shouldn’t even be an argument.”

When asked directly if he was a Trump supporter, Nelly doubled down on his neutrality. "I support the president of the United States regardless of who is in office. Regardless, I respect the office."

Backlash and celebrity reactions

Nelly isn’t the only rapper who took heat for performing at Trump’s inaugural events. Even heavyweights like Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, and Soulja Boy faced similar backlash for aligning with the the president, whether directly or indirectly.

But while many in the hip-hop community went after Nelly, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith stepped in to defend him.

"Nelly is not a political person, he doesn’t get involved in the campaigns," Smith said. “Nelly does perform for people who will pay the right fee and believes in respecting the office because of the power that comes with it. That’s his position. Like it or not, you gotta respect it.”

That said, Monae has long been an outspoken advocate for marginalized communities. They made it clear in a November interview with Bossip that they believe Trump’s policies and rhetoric are actively harmful.

"He’s a hateful person and he wants the rest of the world to exhibit that behavior and that is dangerous," Monae said at the time. "Kamala is about ‘we,’ whereas Trump is about ‘me.’ That’s the clear difference.”

Before the afterparty, Monae had already performed at the Crypto.com Arena during the Grammys broadcast. They took part in the Quincy Jones tribute segment, moonwalking across the stage while performing Michael Jackson’s 'Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.'