The powers that be at American Idol want us to think that Mariah Carey and Nicki were at each other's throats from the get go, in one of the most ostentatious diva battles pop culture has ever witnessed. Footage from the relatively harmonious first day of filming (when Mariah wore this) was moved to the end of last night's Season 12 premiere to make way for the subsequent bickering that happened as the divas got more comfortable with each other and/or were told by producers to ramp up the animosity. (The first hour of footage that was aired, by the way, was described as the first day of filming.)

On the Late Show with David Letterman last night, smart-mouthed superstar Jennifer Lawrence explained her controversial acceptance speech for Best Actress - Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for Silver Linings Playbook at Sunday's Golden Globes. "What does it say? I beat Meryl," is how she opened her speech, and she explained to Letterman that she was referencing the 1996 revenge comedy The First Wives Club. She didn't mention, though, that she was also referencing the truth, because she did, in fact, beat Meryl Streep, who was nominated for Hope Springs.

Last night, Fox screened about an hour's worth of footage of the first two episodes of the upcoming season of American Idol (premiering Wednesday) to fans and contest winners in movie theaters around the country. It was as weird as it sounds, but thoroughly entertaining. Immediately, it was clear that pitting classic diva (Mariah Carey) against nu-diva (Nicki Minaj) is every bit the genius casting that it seemed to be when it was announced last year. And what's more, Nicki Minaj has emerged as the favorite in this now-legendary, inevitable feud. Minaj wins in the category of what matters most: entertainment value. She is by far the most magnetic persona on the judging panel.

Come next week, we'll get to see with our own eyes if the pop-culture feud of 2012 is as fake as it seems when American Idol begins its 12th season featuring Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj on its judging panel. But until then, we'll just have to take their word for it. Nicki has already weighed in, and Mariah got an extended chance to do so last night on Nightline when she sat down with the always daffy Barbara Walters.

For the better part of the past 48 hours, 21-year-old New York rapper Azealia Banks (best known for her 2011 viral hit "212") has been holding the attention of her Twitter followers hostage. First it was a Twitter beef with fellow 21-year-old hip-hop up-and-comer Angel Haze, which resulted in a swapping of dis tracks. And then, last night, she really had people freaking out when, during a spat with Perez Hilton resulting from his #TeamAngelHaze status, she called him a "messy faggot":

Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are apparently an insufferable item now, and one One Direction fan who isn't taking the news very well is Hailie Scott Mathers, BKA Eminem's teenage daughter.

Flick some cigarette ash into your Red Bull and knock it back in one big shot: we're about to go deep cut Lindsay Lohan drama.

Jersey City rapper and Slaughterhouse founding member Joe Budden did not take kindly to a concertgoer's unkind tweets about his Thursday night concert in Oakland being "dead," so he instructed his security detail to escort the woman out.

Sure, Anderson Cooper may have bombs falling all around him threatening his very existence — but that doesn't mean he's about to let some random person get away with saying something bad about him on the Internet.

Nicki Minaj's nonstop commercial/reality show Nicki Minaj: My Truth addressed the pop star/rapper's supposed beef with fellow American Idol judge Mariah Carey during its second episode last night. According to Nicki, she "reached her boiling point" after being "egged on" by Carey and "storm[ing] off" the set. She returned to receive "another jab" from Carey, and that is when she unleashed her rant, which was filmed and then posted on TMZ.

Of all the notable public figures you expect to have beef with one another, CNN anchor Don Lemon and Superbad star Jonah Hill are likely dead last on the list.

Everyone can stop worrying: debate expert President Barack Obama has finally weighed in on the Nicki Minaj-Mariah Carey American Idol feud. During an interview with something called "The Yo Show," the president said the following:

Barack Obama may be in serious danger of losing the vote of those who are unable to vote if he continues to alienate deported foreign-born felons at this rate. "I'd vote for [Mitt] Romney," Shyne announced in a recent interview with MTV News, adding that the President was "corny" and needed to "help the [J]ew out." Shyne was deported in 2009 after serving nearly a decade in prison for a nightclub shooting that injured three people.

TMZ has just leaked audio from the call Lindsay Lohan made to her father, Michael, in the midst of the fight with her mom, Dina, that culminated in a small squadron of emergency vehicles descending upon Dina's Long Island home early this morning.

If you think that Stevie Nicks is a bizarre person to weigh in on the Mariah Carey/Nicki Minaj American Idol feud, she'll see your bizarreness and raise you a murderous impulse. Pop music's most cherished witch figure seems to be the last person in the world who doesn't think Mariah and Nicki's public squabbling is a publicity stunt to court interest for the dying brand that is Idol, and that's a great thing because Nicks is saying ridiculous stuff as a result. Stuff like:

Is the Mariah Carey-Nicki Minaj back-and-forth a genuine feud or a ratings ploy? Neither, claim American Idol producers.

Is Nicki Minaj for real?

It looks like the rumors about American Idol judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj hating each other are true. According to TMZ, Minaj snapped and cursed out Carey during a recent audition. After a disagreement over a contestant's peformance, Minaj said:

Professional blowhard Piers Morgan thought he'd get a rise out of fellow windbag Kelsey Grammer by banning him for life from Piers Morgan Tonight.

On top of the indignity of a 25-year marriage to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver now has to deal with the publicity tour for his new tell-all memoir.