Ice Spice has been facing major backlash online after fellow rapper Cleotrapa accused her of mistreatment while they were touring together.
Earlier last week, Cleotrapa took to TikTok with a multi-part video series where she explained her experience with Ice Spice while on her Y2K tour. Cleotrapa said Ice Spice invited her on the tour with very little notice, was told expenses were taken care of then had to pay for her own hotel room, got kicked out of a dressing room and was left out of conversations when Ice Spice and her team decided to order food. Ice Spice’s team allegedly refused to load Cleotrapa’s bags into a vehicle with everyone else’s, so she had to load up the bags herself. Cleoptrapa said she felt Ice Spice wanted her to struggle on the tour.
In her TikTok series, Cleotrapa included screenshots of a text exchange with Ice Spice where she told Ice Spice about the way she was treated on the tour. Cleotrapa said it felt like she asked to come on the tour rather than being asked by Ice Spice to join her.
Ice Spice’s manager, James Rosemond Jr., took to X and in a series of now deleted posts and said artists are supposed to earn their way. He included that artists may have to pay for things like hotels at the beginning of their career, but they should look at it as an investment. He also believes the matter should have been handled privately.
Ice Spice also addressed the allegations on a space on X, where she said she noticed many of her friends used her for clout. She said she really was trying to help Cleotrapa, and Cleotrapa only focused on her complaints and not the fun the two had together while on tour. She then posted a poll for her followers asking what she should have for dinner. The options were chicken salad or steakhouse, the two food choices Cleotrapa allegedly missed out on. Since the incident has come to light, Ice Spice has lost over 540,000 followers on Instagram, seemingly as a result of the controversy.
Rapper Azealia Banks has come to Cleotrapa’s defense and even offered Cleotrapa an opportunity to perform at her Halloween performance in October, while seemingly calling out Ice Spice by saying Cleotrapa will be paid for her time and will have her own space to get ready.
This is not the first time Ice Spice has had a friendship end publicly. Earlier this year, artist Baby Storme took to social media to call out Ice Spice. She called Ice Spice her ex best friend and promised to expose the rapper. Baby Storme alleged that Ice Spice bullied her when they were teenagers in school together and said Ice Spice used Baby Storme’s connections to make her way to the top of the industry, all while pretending to be her friend. She exposed text messages between herself and Ice Spice where Ice Spice took aim at Nicki Minaj, calling her delusional and ungrateful. She also said that Ice Spice forced everyone in her life to sign an NDA, but Baby Storme refused. Baby Storme also called Ice Spice and Cleotrapa “fake friends.”
Although Ice Spice has had a lot of success within her career, it is clearly not enough to keep her out of drama. She has had 4 songs land in the top 10 on the Billboard Top 100. However, she has lost over 25 million monthly Spotify listeners in one year along with her declining social media followers.
When Ice Spice first came onto the scene, it seemed she was the next big thing. She has collaborated with major artists like Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj, but has done little else to bring in fans and the general public. It is clear that public opinion of Ice Spice is rapidly changing as she continues to be the subject of online controversies. Her recent album “Y2K!” did little to impress audiences, and where Ice Spice has a lot of room to grow, both within music and her personal relationships, she seems reluctant to try something new.
