Trevor Noah Takes Shots At Nicki Minaj, Donald Trump’s Epstein Association & More During Grammys Show

UPDATED: Amid the opening monologue schmoozing, Trevor Noah, back for one last go-round as host of the Grammy Awards his sixth and final time, took a shot at MAGA barbie herself Nicki Minaj, deriding the embattled rapper.

“Nicki Minaj is not here, she is not here, uh,” he began, drawing loud attendee cheers. He continued, with his best impression of the POTUS: “She is still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues: ‘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. Womp womp womp, look at it baby.’”

While Minaj has been nominated during music’s biggest night 12 times, she has never won. The last time she received a nod was in 2024, for her track “Barbie World” for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film.

The Emmy-winning, and Grammy-nominated comedian, who is also serving as executive producer for the Feb. 1 ceremony, held at Downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, started his monologue by making a joke about Bruno Mars and Rosé’s hit song “APT.” — based on a popular Korean drinking game. Outlining the rules of the involved game, he quipped, “In America, every time you turn on the news, you drink.”

In an opener that eschewed outright political statements and instead gestured toward the state of national politics, the host noted legendary hip-hop/neo-Soul artist Lauryn Hill would be taking the stage for the first time since the turn of the millennium.

“Back in 1999, the president had had a sex scandal, people thought computers were about to destroy the world and Diddy was arrested — boy how times have changed,” Noah said.

Elsewhere, while shouting out the starry audience — from Jamie Foxx to Pharrell to Doechii — he said, “There are so many stars in this room, I feel like I’m at Jeff Bezos’ wedding, but with way, way more Black people, you know what I mean?”

Throughout the night, Noah kept up the pressure with political quips, such as jokingly asking Bad Bunny if he could move to Puerto Rico “if things keep getting worse in America,” resulting in the trap artist being the bearer of bad news.

Later on, after Billie Eilish’s Song of the Year win, he said: “That is a Grammy that every artist wants —almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense, I mean, because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

Noah began hosting the Grammys in a corporate synergy move while he was the host of The Daily Show on CBS’ Paramount network Comedy Central. He continued to serve as host and EP after leaving The Daily Show in December 2022.

This year will be the last time the Grammy Awards will air on CBS, where it has aired every year since 1973. Beginning next year, the show moves to ABC as part of the Grammys’ 10-year deal with Disney, which was announced last year. The Grammys will air on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ from 2027, taking it through to 2036.

A winner of 22 career Grammys, Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 nominations with nine, including Record, Song and Album of the Year. Lady Gaga received seven noms for her album Mayhem, followed by Sabrina Carpenter and Bad Bunny with six, all nominated as well in the major categories.