The Shady Side Of DJ Khaled

DJ Khaled is generally regarded as the poster child of positivity, but he's had his fair share of shady moments and controversy over the years. It doesn't help that some of said shade — from misogynistic comments to awkward interviews and beef with other artists — has played out very publicly. 

It's worthwhile noting that, for the most part, DJ Khaled is pretty drama-averse. As longtime fans of his may remember, back in 2009, he told MTV that he wanted to avoid getting involved in the spat between 50 Cent, Rick Ross, and Fat Joe. "I don't deal with negative energy. It's a waste of my time, and my time is valuable," he'd told the outlet. That's not to say he wouldn't cop to some shady dealings years later, though. In a 2023 interview with "Shay Shay Club," he admitted that at the height of the beef between prolific public feud starter 50 Cent and Fat Joe, he'd snubbed the former's best friend and crew member, Yayo. "He did come shake my hand ... I told him, 'I can't do that,'" he shared. 

In fairness, by the time he shared the story with "Shay Shay Club," the fight was long over, and he noted that today, everyone involved finds it pretty funny. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be the last time the DJ was involved in drama — and unlike the Yayo story, some of his other slights have played out in real time. 

Starting with possibly one of the most controversial moments of his career, back in 2014, DJ Khaled made incredibly misogynistic comments on "Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM." He also put himself at risk of being added to the list of celebs who are bad in the bedroom.

While joking about his leaked sex tape, the conversation took a left turn when the DJ made a surprising admission about refusing to reciprocate oral sex. Making matters worse, he added that he believed he was allowed to do so as a man, but if DJ's wife, Nicole Tuck, were to do the same, he'd be unhappy about it. In fact, in one pointed comment directed at c-host Angela Yee, he quipped, "It's different rules for men. We the king. So, there's some things that y'all might not want to do or want to do. It gotta get done."

Understandably, the DJ was swiftly taken to task by the show's hosts. However, it wasn't until 2018 that his sentiments went viral, and he had many more detractors to contend with. Critics included Dwayne Johnson, who took to X, then known as Twitter, to joke that he felt differently. "As a man, I take great pride in mastering ALL performances," he wrote. Another major detractor was Nicki Minaj, who rapped about cutting him off and canceling him in her 2018 song, "Barbie Dreams." True to shady form, though, DJ Khaled never responded.

Two years after making his comments on "Breakfast Club Power 105.1" and two years before the clip went viral, DJ Khaled became a dad for the first time. While his excitement for the occasion was undoubtedly adorable, something he said in an interview for "Jimmy Kimmel Live" pointed to more shadiness.

Asked by Jimmy Kimmel if he planned on sharing his son's birth via Snapchat, as he did most of his life, the DJ responded that he had every intention of doing so. It was funny, at first — until he made it clear that he was unbothered that his wife wasn't as keen. "The key is that I'm the king, you know what I'm saying ... and every, every queen, should support the king," he responded while the crowd's laughter petered out somewhat. Granted, he later added that he would check with the doctors before going ahead and that the health and safety of his wife, Nicole Tuck, and their child were his first priority. Most fans in the YouTube comment section took notice of how much he was looking forward to his son's birth.

Either way, it's evident the doctors (and hopefully Tuck) were approving of him documenting the experience. A few months after the interview, Asahd Tuck Khaled was born. And yes, Time reported that his birth was shared with the world on Snapchat. 

Awkward comments about gender dynamics aside, DJ Khaled was involved in another shady incident when he joined as a guest for a Season 1 episode of the YouTube talk show "Hot Ones." As it turns out, he isn't a major fan of hot food, which made for a bit of a testy situation on set. 

Three hot wings — and one swap with host Sean Evans to make sure he wasn't getting hotter wings — later, DJ Khaled tapped out of the challenge. That said, he continued to answer all of Evans' questions. Even so, several years later, the host said it was a challenging scenario for him to be in at the time. Reflecting on the episode in a 2023 interview with "Adam Carolla: Clips and Classics," Evans said he felt like the DJ hadn't wanted to be there from the start and was more concerned with maintaining his image than playing ball. The host revealed that it was challenging when DJ Khaled questioned the show's format in the middle of the interview and suggested that it encouraged people to harm themselves.

Even so, the episode was certainly entertaining, and even Evans has agreed. Plus, there have been far worse awkward celebrity interview moments, and we've got to say the DJ's enduring confidence was inspirational, if not a little on the delulu side. As he'd said in the interview, "I promise you, if I stop, it doesn't mean I gave up." Reason being? He was prioritizing his health over entertainment. 

Even with some of his shadier moments, DJ Khaled typically hypes himself up by focusing on his own achievements and willingness to succeed. However, in 2019, he took another approach and threw some shade at Tyler, the Creator. 

On May 17, 2019, both DJ Khaled and Tyler dropped their albums on the same day. Both were smash hits, but it was Tyler, the Creator's "Igor" that got the most streams. To put it lightly, DJ Khaled was disappointed. Cue a very salty Instagram video, with DJ Khaled saying his music was more popular than Tyler, the Creators' in real life. "It's called albums that you actually hear the songs. Not no mysterious s**t," he ranted. 

The video was ultimately taken down, and sources involved told Blast that DJ Khaled hadn't been upset with the "Sir Baudelaire" rapper but with Billboard for the way they counted his album's sales. That may have been the case, but it's a little tough to say there was no offense intended when the rant was a blatant comparison of his mainstream music to Tyler's more experimental (dare we say, "mysterious") offerings. 

One thing that does stand out about DJ Khaled is that he prefers not to discuss drama publicly. And, sure, that might mean some of the shade he's thrown over the years hasn't been resolved, but in many cases, it seems like it has been — just behind closed doors. 

Starting with the sometimes controversy-causing ways in which he's spoken about his dynamic with Nicole Tuck, there's no denying that he also shares his love for her, and very loudly. His Instagram is full of gushy posts dedicated to her. And, as for the whole Snapchatting-during-labor-thing, it seems Tuck wasn't particularly bothered by that, either. Case in point: A month after Asahd Tuck Khaled was born, she took to her own Instagram to poke fun at her husband's obsession with social media. In the caption of an image of their baby covering his face, she wrote, "My daddy is posting everything smh lol." 

As for the Tyler, the Creator drama, the "Lumberjack" rapper told "Hot 97" that, while he knew it was all ego-based, he didn't hold it against DJ Khaled. The DJ, himself, has been a lot quieter. However, they hung out together at the 2023 Roc Nation Brunch, and DJ Khaled even posted the image to his Instagram. He later told Rolling Stone that he was eager to collaborate in the future. 

New shoes, who this?! DJ Khaled raised a few eyebrows when he posted a video demanding to be manually carried all the way up to the 2024 South Beach Wine and Food Festival stage in Miami where he was set to perform. In the video, the record producer opens the door to his chauffeured luxury sedan, takes one look at the sand, and appears to have an absolutely not moment. After asking for help, two of his security guards promptly whisk him from the car into the back of a Polaris utility vehicle, and then again from the utility vehicle to the stage. "Thank you brothers, I appreciate it," he says. "Can't mess up the Js." Per Page Six, the shoes DJ was so hellbent on protecting were actually a pair of yet-to-be-released J Balvin x Air Jordan 3 "Rio" shoes. Fancy.

As one can imagine, many were none too pleased with DJ's diva-esque behavior and they quickly took to the comments section to admonish the "I'm on One" rapper. "Material over humanity hmmm," one user wrote. Meanwhile, another penned, "Bro, take off your shoes this is silly." It wasn't until the following month that the record exec finally addressed the backlash. "It's very simple — I love my sneakers," he told People unapologetically. Still, he was adamant that the impromptu lift by his security detail just wasn't that deep. "My team and my brothers, anything they would do for me, I would do for them 10 times," he explained. "We just show each other love. We was having fun at the same time." There's no denying DJ Khaled has had some shady moments, but he is always keen on moving past them — while keeping his feet off the ground, obvs.