Is Ellen DeGeneres’ Nicki Minaj Parody Racist?

Ellen, a lot of people did not expect something like this on your show. This morning, The Ellen DeGeneres Show struck a controversial note. The host — usually known for her candid kindness served up with a dash of comedy — may have taken things too far with a sketch about the upcoming television series based loosely on the early years of Nicki Minaj's life. After opening the clip by emphasizing that this was a real sneak peek from the show and not something the Ellen producers whipped up, DeGeneres turned to the big TV behind the couch and introduced her obviously satirical vision of the show. "This is totally real, not something we put together as a joke," she added before hitting play. In a scene that screams 1980s, tween-age Nicki Minaj's mom calls her downstairs to pick up a pair of shoes she left lying around. (Kids, right?) But, when the little girl turns around, we see that she has a comically (?) huge butt. Then, her mom walks out from behind the couch and knocks over a flower vase with her own huge butt. Then, her father comes into the room and reveals that he, too, has a huge butt. “They have big butts, that’s the joke,” DeGeneres deadpanned after the sketch ended. Laughing? We're not. Not only was this sketch not funny, it's also pretty offensive. Minaj may indeed have an ample derriere, but she is so much more than her physique, and watching a petite, white, middle-aged comedian poke fun at the singer's butt smacks of casual racism and girl-on-girl body-shaming. We're not the only ones who didn't find it funny, either: The internet is pretty wound up about the clip, which you can watch below.

What we can't figure out is how this made it through to the broadcast — didn't anyone stop and consider for a moment that it was maybe in poor taste? Whoever wrote this sketch should probably at least go through some mandatory sensitivity training; it doesn't get more inappropriate than this. And, though Minaj and DeGeneres are allegedly friendly, we're wondering what the "Ananconda" singer has to say about this nonsense. The rapper might have been flattered the first time Ellen imitated her looks, but going after her butt seems like it could be a different story.

Check out the clip in its entirety, below.