Just one day ahead of her "American Idol" debut, Nicki Minaj is trying her best to do some damage control on her reputation. Following her fight with beloved pop legend Mariah Carey, Nicki seems to feel like she's been painted the villain in the whole debacle, or in her own words, the "crazy psycho."

"I don't know. It was just two big old divas, I guess," the rapper explains on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "I was just like sitting there, and I guess before I went in there I heard all the stuff that was being said, but I didn't believe it. I heard them saying 'Mariah doesn't want you on the panel' but I was like, 'No. I am friends with Mariah.' I was like arguing people down. Like, 'Don't believe everything you read, you're crazy.'"

Well apparently, the rumors were true. "I went there and I started to feel a bit of the shade," Nicki revealed, "And I just kind of overcompensated by being crazier."

"You know, when someone maybe doesn't like you, it's kind of like, now you're gonna really go in," she explains of her decision to act out on the judges panel. "Because it's like a defense mechanism. You know what I mean? It's really that. Your feelings are hurt and you can't believe it, so you kind of just compensate with being crazy."

Mariah recently told her side of the story -- including the fact that she stepped up her security after allegedly receiving threats from Nicki -- during an interview with Barbara Walters. But these days, Nicki insists the beef has been squashed between the two.

"We're fine," Minaj claims. "I cannot hold a grudge against Mariah Carey. What people don't understand is that I've looked up to her for so many years. Since she came out, 'Vision of Love,' all that. Me and my mother would sing her songs like all day and all night. So I don't know if she's gotten over it, but I have. I mean, I'm over there cracking up laughing, having fun and if she's still holding a grudge. I don't know. Like, I don't care."

That is, until the live-show portion of the programming begins. Ms. Minaj admits that should any future incidents arise, she may not be able to edit herself in the heat of the moment.

"Just like if there's a slick comment being made, I just want it to go well," she says. "It's about the contestants. We have a lot of great talent, and I don't want anyone on the panel to say something too crazy, because then I don't want to look like a crazy psycho again. I am not really a crazy psycho, you guys."

Season 12 of "American Idol" premieres Jan. 16 on FOX at 8PM ET.



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