'American Idol': Nicki Minaj calls Mariah Carey 'sir,' angers some fans

Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey appear on "American Idol." (AP)

Watch it there, Nicki.

This season, the audience has embraced Nicki Minaj’s unique critiques (and style) as she sits on the “American Idol” panel, bringing a young, new perspective to the judges table. But last night she may have lost some fans when she seemingly insulted music great Mariah Carey during the show.

The jab came when the two “Idol” women argued about contestant Kree Harrison’s performance of “She Talks to Angels.”

After Minaj said she disagreed with Carey’s critique, Carey fired back, “I disagree with your disagreement.”

“OK. Simmer down, sir,” Minaj quipped back.

Her reply was met with some gasps and a few laughs from a surprised studio audience.

And some fans on Twitter had a similar reaction.

“Why does Nicki Minaj try to start [with] Mariah like she 60x better than you will ever be,” one user wrote.

“[Nicki Minaj] need[s] to show some respect to Mariah Carey. Like at least respect each other's opinion. I love you Mariah,” one viewer wrote.

Another added: “Lol at [Nicki Minaj] trying to "disagree" [with] Mariah when Mariah was talking about something else.”

And though Minaj’s many fans tweeted they thought the “sir” comment was funny, the rapper still seemed to offer an olive branch to Carey later in the night. Minaj, possibly in attempt to smooth things over, complimented the music icon’s vocal skills at one point.  

After Candice Glover’s performance of “When You Believe,” Minaj talked about the impressive collaboration of the original version of the song, which was performed by Carey and Whitney Houston.

Fans of Carey took the opportunity to gloat about the compliment.

“Today's episode of American Idol just reminded me why Mariah Carey is a queen..like Nicki Minaj just had to show some respect,” one user wrote on Twitter.

But others praised the rapper for her kind words.

“Thanks for being “sweet" to Mariah tonight [Nicki Minaj]!” one fan tweeted.

“I agree with Nicki Minaj. For once,” another wrote. “She even complimented Mariah. What.”