A Texas cemetery has taken action to beef up its security efforts after a public feud between rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj led to an influx of social media attention.
The cemetery's address circulated on social media earlier this week, with some users linking it to the final resting place of Holly Thomas, Megan Thee Stallion's mother. In a statement, the cemetery — The Times will not disclose its name — said that it had alerted local police officers and "increased [its] security personnel."
"We will continue to monitor the situation, as we take safety and security very seriously," the statement continued.
A representative for a local police department confirmed to The Times that more patrol officers have been ordered to perform "extra security checks" around the cemetery since Sunday. No acts of vandalism at the gravesite have been reported as of Wednesday afternoon.
The March 2019 death of Megan Thee Stallion's mother, who died after battling brain cancer, and her final resting place surfaced amid tension between the "Hiss" rapper, who was raised in Houston, and Minaj. Last week, Megan and Minaj (who collaborated on the 2019 song "Hot Girl Summer") both dropped tracks seemingly taking digs at each other.
After Megan Thee Stallion (real name Megan Pete) dropped "Hiss" on Friday, fans speculated that the Grammy winner, 28, was taking aim at Minaj and her husband with lyrics referencing Megan's Law.
The "Hiss" lyrics in question: "These h— don't be mad at Megan, these h— mad at Megan's Law."
The federal law mandates public disclosure about convicted and registered sex offenders, and Minaj's husband Kenneth Petty was convicted in 1995 in New York of the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl.
He served a four-year prison sentence for that conviction and is required to register as a sex offender wherever he lives. But in 2022, Petty failed to register in California as a sex offender and was sentenced to house arrest.
"Hiss" didn't mention Minaj by name, but the "Pink Friday 2" rapper seemed to take the single personally, dropping a diss track of her own.
Minaj's "Big Foot" nods to more than just Megan Thee Stallion's romantic relationships and her 2020 shooting by Tory Lanez. In several lines, Minaj accuses her alleged rival of "lying on your dead mama." The rapper, 41, also reportedly mentioned Thomas' death on the "social radio" platform Stationhead, TMZ reported.
As of Wednesday afternoon, it seems Thomas was not the only late parent to get caught up in the rappers' feud. The final resting place of Robert Maraj (Minaj's father), who died in February 2021, also began circulating on social media.
Neither representatives for Megan Thee Stallion nor Minaj responded to The Times' request for comment.
With rap fans now allegedly using gravesites to fuel a feud, a Houston-area police representative told The Times that prospective vandals should be prepared to face the consequences.
"There's laws against defacing and damaging gravesites and anyone that is caught in any act ... will obviously be met with the consequences of being arrested," a police source said. "We highly encourage everyone to just stay away from the cemetery and not get involved in something like this."
