Minaj: Idol Drama Is Producers' Fault

Nicki Minaj is convinced that American Idol producers are behind her feud with Mariah Carey, attempting to goad Minaj into angry outbursts like the one caught on tape Tuesday because it makes for good television. Though that sounds like a very believable premise to us, TMZ's sources insist producers were actually shocked and even unhappy by Tuesday's fracas. And apparently they're doing all they can to smooth things over, which led to a much calmer day on-set yesterday. But if Carey divas up again, Minaj is walking away, sources say.

Meanwhile, just about everyone else in the world has weighed in on the drama:

• Fellow judge Keith Urban tells Extra he felt like "the UN" when he found himself in the middle of Minaj and Carey, and wife Nicole Kidman called him "Switzerland."
• Nick Cannon, aka Mr. Mariah Carey, tells E! that his wife is "the strongest, classiest woman that I've ever met in any situation" and that she's "not moved by the theatrics or pageantry. She's just there to do her job and help young people."
• On his radio show, Idol host Ryan Seacrest said the exchange did indeed get "heated" and "intense," the New York Daily News reports. Even so, "there's nothing wrong with disagreeing," he said.
• And what does Minaj's hairdresser have to say about all this? According to the New York Post, Terrence Davidson wrote on Facebook that people should "stop hitting me about what happened ... if you wasn't there save your speech."

(More American Idol stories.)