Nicki Minaj Warns 'American Idol' Hopeful Devin Velez To Be 'Gracious' Following Elimination (TWEETS)

Never one to shy away from expressing her opinion, Nicki Minaj took to Twitter last week to dress down an "American Idol" contestant who had lambasted her in comments to the press.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "Idol" hopeful Devin Velez, who was eliminated last week, had chastised Minaj for being too harsh in her criticism of his group's performance.

As WENN points out, Minaj had expressed exasperation at the sub-par rendition of "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" performed by Velez, Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor during last week's show. She went so far as to tell the three performers to "get off the stage."

"I agree with the first half of her critique," Velez said in press conference call on Friday. "When she went crazy -- when she was like ‘get off the stage, blah blah blah’ and it’s just like ‘whoa Miss Minaj, I need you to calm down please.'"

In a series of tweets, Minaj responded to Velez's comments, warning him to be "gracious" after his elimination.

Several hours later, Velez took to Twitter himself and thanked Minaj and the rest of the "Idol" judging crew:

It's unclear as to whether Velez had taken Minaj's advice to heart or not, but we're thinking the 18-year-old crooner is wise in wanting to avoid a head-to-head with the fiery "Idol" judge.

Do you think Velez deserved to be eliminated? Tell us in the comments below.