Nicki Minaj has responded to a ridiculous rumor that she owes the IRS $173 million (£142.

Over the weekend, Minaj responded to fans who brought up the rumor on Instagram Live by mocking their credulity and saying, "Every day I learn that y'all [are] gettin' dumber and fuckin' dumber."

As she tends to when she livestreams, Minaj tackled the issue with a general sense of levity. Faking tears, she said, "sobbing," that "my assistant, y'all, went and told everybody that it is true, how I owe $173 million to the IRS, and I hooked up [Minaj's personal hairstylist, Dionte Gray, aka] Tae," she started by responding to the rumors.

Tae is so uneasy around the man I married, Minaj continued as she quickly burst into laughter. Tae didn’t ever like to be around him, and Tae was calling that assistant, begging that assistant to stop spilling my tea. "

Have a look at a snippet from Minaj’s livestream (around three minutes in), courtesy of The Breakfast Club, below:

The rumours in question began to spread earlier this week when a fraudulent Instagram account, claiming to belong to someone named Kate Miller, made a series of allegations against Minaj under the pretext that they were her “ex-assistant who she fired for absolutely no proof of fraud with her bank account”.

Among the posts shared by “Kate Miller” were claims that Minaj had racked up her nine-figure “debt” over the past six years alone; that her husband, Kenneth Petty, was abusive; and that she’d preemptively paid $75,000 (£62,000) to have her forthcoming single, "Freaky Girl," chart higher than it would have based on authentic streams.

Whew, chile! PART 1 of a woman's allegations against #NickiMinaj, who she claims to be the ex-assistant of, range from claims that the rapper owes millions of dollars in back taxes to claims that he bought off bloggers, rappers, and media outlets to allegations of abuse. pic.twitter.com/Fn4OobBcvH

This is the second time in the past month that Minaj has been forced to address wild rumours about her personal life. In July, she responded to buzz that she was expecting her second child with Petty by joking, “I’m not pregnant, I’m fat." But thanks, guys, for all the congratulatory messages! "

Meanwhile, the rapper is gearing up to drop "Freaky Girl" next Thursday (August 11). Following the Lil Baby singles "Do We Have A Problem?" and "Bussin," "Blick Blick" with Coi Leray, and "We Go Up" with Fivio Foreign, it will be her fifth release of the year. Later in the year, she’ll premiere the autobiographical docu-series Nicki on HBO Max.