New Orleans is the place to be as celebrities in all facets of entertainment descend on the Big Easy for the Essence Festival. There have been several highlights of the event shared throughout social media as guests enjoy the festivities, and for those who weren’t able to make it to NOLA, it was all streamed on Hulu. The main attraction this evening (July 1) had the Barbz on pause as Nicki Minaj was one of the headliners for the weekend, however, at the last minute, the dedicated fanbase was met with bad news.

Just ahead of Minaj’s performance, it was shared the Rap icon’s portion would no longer be streamed. To say that her fans had a meltdown is an understatement.

Because Minaj’s performance was used to promote the streamed viewing, many of her fans thought that her participation was a guarantee. Several people took to social media to complain that they sat through the entirety of the Essence Festival today in hopes of catching their idol, but while they are missing out on Hulu’s delivery, people in attendance have Livestreamed her performance to the best of their abilities on other platforms.

Clips of a blonde Minaj have taken over socials and as expected, Minaj has put on a live show that even her critics have praised. We’ve grabbed a few reactions from her disappointed fans as well as a few brief highlights from her live performance.