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'I've Made History': Farrah Abraham on Nicki Minaj Fight, Deen Rape Accusations

In an interview with Broadly, the "Teen Mom" star opens up about her Twitter beef with the rapper, being a woman in the adult entertainment industry, and how she's learned to deal with her mother.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Stars are just like us, and Nicki Minaj has proven "just like us" includes attacking other women on Twitter. This weekend, the Grammy Award nominee watched an episode of MTV's Teen Mom OG and took to Twitter to voice her opinion on Farrah Abraham. Minaj trashed Farrah's treatment of her mom on the show by tweeting, "Farrah is a cunt to her mother," and "[sic] she was like bitch go do some porn & leave gramma alone." In response, Farrah tweeted, "[sic] Cause your a parent right? Your videos look like porn."

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"Your mother didn't open her legs and have that child," Minaj fired back. "Be happy she's helping! Stop talking to her like that on tv u lil cunt." Minaj then followed up with, "Instead of dragging your mother, learn the difference between 'you're' & 'your' ding bat."

"To be clear my mom doesn't help me I help her," Abraham snapped back. "I love & care for my mom. Stop disgusting talk @NICKIMINAJ."

Farrah and her mother, Debra Danielsen, have an intensely fraught relationship due to the abuse Farrah alleges Debra doled out to Farrah for most of her life. Farrah has also accused her mother of pressuring her to go through with her teen pregnancy despite Farrah's desire to have an abortion. Debra was also arrested in January 2010 on assault charges after Farrah sustained "multiple cuts to the right side of [her] mouth" after a physical argument.

This morning, I sat down with Farrah to discuss the feud, as well as her own rape accusations against James Deen and why Minaj is the reason why Farrah's seven-year-old daughter wants butt implants. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

BROADLY: How did the fight with Nicki Minaj start?
Farrah Abraham: I wasn't even paying attention. One of my press people who works on my team had sent me a screenshot of all of these things that they saw [Nicki] saying about me. They were like, "Do you want to respond? We'll let you respond." I just [thought], For one, did someone hack her account? Why would she even be saying these things about me? I can't believe that she would even be saying things like that, because I thought that she was more of an advocate for women, supporting women—she was a feminist!

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Did you think she was being hypocritical?
It just really took me aback, because I'm all about being a feminist and supporting women and people who are positive and pro-women and, like, girl bosses—I thought that's what she was, but she proved to me yesterday that she's definitely not that. I've said this probably many of times to my friends and to other people—my daughter wants to meet Nicki Minaj at some point. She even says things like, "I want butt injections" because of Nicki Minaj. Now, because I'm going through a hard time with my mom, [and Nicki] is saying negative things about my daughter and my mother and me, I'm just no longer allowing Sophia to [listen to] her music because I can't associate with [Nicki's] negativity anymore.

Nicki also said she thinks you disrespect your mom. What would you like her to know about your relationship with your mother?
I currently support my mom, whether that's financially, in her endeavors with her "Mom and Me" brand, or just being there more than anyone in my family is. I definitely try—and always will try—to work on my relationship with my mother. It's always been a struggle—as we've seen on Teen Mom. But not everyone understands [what] the dynamic between my mother and me [has gone] through having an abusive upbringing, a divorce, and the loss of my daughter's father—she wasn't really supportive in that time. Those are a lot of the things that shaped our relationship, and we still work through that. I still have her going to therapy with me, and you'll see that in the new season of Teen Mom OG.

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When people accuse you having a bad attitude towards your mother, like Nicki did, what don't they know?
I'm a parent and I'm busy, but I don't like to waste my time. So yes, I do get upset because I have no patience for people misunderstanding me, and not wasting time on things that I don't want to waste time on. If I'm upset or if I'm fighting, it's because I think I've said it clearly enough. It's really hard for me to have people argue and fight with me when I don't even care to—that's probably why you see me get a little worked up. I come from a family of women who definitely are always worked up, or fighting, or voicing themselves loudly. I'm trying to obviously change that and work on those things in myself.

Between all of these issues, what's the biggest misconception about you?
There are a couple. The big misconception is that I'm "mean." The other one is that I'm in the porn industry—like I am a "porn star"—and I would say that's another misconception at large.

Why do you think people say you are "mean"?
I think that people who are saying that I'm mean—or using other choice words for that, like Nicki Minaj has done—do not understand that I fight for what is right. I've been through a lot of things, and I'm a very strong woman because of all the hate and the people who have shaped me to be who I need to be to be successful. I'm sick of defending myself. I'm sick of putting up with lies and twisted behavior about who I am. It's just sad to see that people don't understand how much I fight hard for the right reasons—for good relationships in my family.

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Pertaining to James Deen and the adult entertainment industry, I very much feel like women's voices are not heard enough in that.

How do you feel about the current James Deen rape allegations, given that you made your own allegation last year?
I felt this past year, 2015, was a big year for my voice to be heard, because initially, when I was dealing with a lot of these sex tape things, I had no control over that. I probably didn't handle it as best because I was 21 or 22 at the time. It's good that a bunch of women spoke up. Pertaining to James Deen and the adult entertainment industry, I very much feel like women's voices are not heard enough in that. It's very challenging, so I'm happy that people were listening.

How do you stay positive?
[Positivity] just comes from God and my faith. I invest in myself, whether it's continuing education classes or whatever it may be, to always make sure that I can provide for my parents, my grandparents, my child, and my future of having an even bigger family. I have to just wonder why people consistently feel like, "She chooses to do these things, only because she's a single mom." But I also choose to do these things because it makes sense for business. I'm also bettering the look and the industry of something that I feel like is not up to par—whether it's our novelty toys for couples, or our sex lives, I feel like it can be better. And that's all I'm trying to do, is to better the world, better what's for sale, better the entertainment industry, and the adult entertainment industry. I feel like I'm in The stars are just like us, and Nicki Minaj has proved "just like us" includes hypocritically attacking other women's sexuality.

Do you think you're a positive force for women?
I've made history in decreasing teen pregnancies. I really try to be respectable about my past and respectable about my future. I see people like Bethenny Frankel, like Nicki Minaj, telling me that I am in the wrong and I'm not for women, yet I am not the one being disgusting with my language or my behavior. I'm really trying to uplift women and support them. I just don't know if there's a future for women to get along when you have people misrepresenting what a feminist is, what women's empowerment is—it's really contradictory.

What's your reaction to Nicki saying that your mom didn't open up her legs to have your daughter, Sophia?
My mother wanted me to give my daughter up for adoption, and I chose to keep Sophia. I had to learn about what my mom has been saying about me in US Weekly. Just yesterday they reported that my mom's been siding with people who are calling me a bitch, and saying negative things on her Facebook, and basically speaking on behalf about my future plans to adopt or have another child. My mom is a little bit out of place sometimes. She doesn't really know how to effectively help me or speak for me, so those are the things that I work on with my mother. She's really passive aggressive and has some things going on. I always love my mom, but it's really hurtful to see… we're just really never on the same side.

Are you happy?
Am I happy? I'm so happy! I'm super excited for 2016 and all the lovely things I get to do—like, I have a wonderful life. I'm working on a new business book, and it's an inspirational book as well, so I can't wait to share more happiness this year making history. There's really nothing to hate on.