'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Media personality DJ Akademiks and rapper/TDE president Terrence 'Punch' Henderson appear to be feuding online as they went back-and-forth with each other on X over Drake and SZA in light of the latter's online spat with Nicki Minaj.
The controversy began after Punch tweeted "Broken Barbies" on July 15, 2025, a reference to a new song by a TDE artist. However, Nicki Minaj perceived it as a slight towards her due to her alter-ego being named "Harajuku Barbie."
Following this, Minaj accused the TDE president of allegedly "bullying" her online in the past. Around the same time, SZA, who was previously managed by Punch and is still signed to TDE, posted about the Mercury retrograde and asked people not to "take the bait." Minaj, who assumed SZA was subtweeting her, went on a verbal rampage against the Kill Bill singer, discrediting her career and mocking her physical appearance.
Trending
DJ Akademiks then commented on the online spat in a subsequent livestream, asking SZA fans to leave him out of the situation. The media personality claimed that he once attacked SZA online, which resulted in her allegedly crying to Drake and other TDE executives to stop him from talking about her.
Akademiks also claimed that he decided to back off after Drake reached out to him and told him to leave her alone. It is unclear when this alleged incident occurred. This clip was posted on Akademiks' alternate X account, @AkademiksTV, with the caption:
"SZA snake a** cant cry to Drake no more to protect her dont let that treesh tweets fool you she type them shits with tears in her eyes crying off the ledge."
Punch then commented on the clip, asking Akademiks to "chill" and give him a call so they can talk about it.
Punch insinuated that Drake writes the captions for the Akademiks TV X posts
On July 16, 2025, Punch and DJ Akademiks argued back and forth on X after the former claimed that Drake was writing the captions for the posts uploaded to the @AkademiksTV X account. The TDE president first made this claim after @AkademiksTV posted images of SZA in Christian, Muslim, and South Asian attire, with the caption:
"One day she's Muslim the next day she's Christian."
The tweet has since been deleted. However, before it was deleted, Punch reposted it and tagged Akademiks, quote-tweeting:
"Ayo @Akademiks… didn’t you say that the homeboy personally write the captions for Akademiks TV? Or were you capping when you said it?"
When Akademiks responded by asking whom "homeboy" referred to, Punch replied that the media personality knew exactly who he was talking about. Akademiks then replied with a long post to "set the record straight," claiming that Drake did not write the captions for @AkademiksTV posts.
Furthermore, Akademiks added that he had a team to run the alternate X account, continuing that his team was full of "heavy Drake fans." He also reiterated his previous claim that the Canadian rapper called him and asked him to cut SZA slack because she was allegedly "crying for 2 days in the studio."
"Oh I love this. Let’s clarify and set the record straight. Drake never wrote a caption on my page. I have a team that does it. Yes they are all like me heavy Drake fans ngl. What I said was last time I said anything on stream bout SZA," he said.
He continued:
"Drake was the one who personally called me and asked me to cool it and walk it back saying she was crying for two days in the studio while he was tryna get her to cut “Slime You Out” and “Rich Baby Daddy."
Akademiks further continued that he had allegedly called Dave Free, Kendrick Lamar's business partner, and told him the same thing, adding:
"I told Dave Free… the exact same thing and I said if Drake hasn’t hit us about anything that was posted it must be because he don’t give af at this point cuz he does communicate w my ppls. Any more clarity needed sir?"
In his response, Punch questioned whether Akademiks told "the homie," presumably referring to Dave Free, that Drake was writing the captions for the posts targeting SZA.
Akademiks denied the claim in his reply, adding that Anthony Saleh (Kendrick Lamar's manager) allegedly spoke to him amid the Lamar-Drake rap beef in 2024 about his alternate X account. The media personality claimed that Saleh told him he knew the names of the people behind the page, claiming to have hired a private investigator to gather the information.
In a subsequent post, Akademiks tweeted, "My Akademiks Tv alt page is ran by fans." In another post, Punch continued that he had heard differently, adding that he wanted to clarify the situation with Akademiks about Drake allegedly writing negative captions about SZA.
In his reply, Akademiks posted an "official clarification" that "Drake don’t and can’t write our captions," which Punch conceded with a simple, "ok."
In other news, SZA and Nicki Minaj have yet to solve their online spat. In one of her recent posts, Minaj dubbed SZA a "fake girl's girl" for allegedly shading other female artists behind their backs in response to resurfaced videos of Rihanna seemingly ignoring SZA at a Met Gala.
