So touching. Not long after Big Ang passed away, one of her biggest fans, Nicki Minaj, took to social media to pay tribute to the Mob Wives star.
Nicki Minaj and Big Ang Jason Merritt/Getty Images; John Lamparski/WireImage
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Uploading a gorgeous snapshot of Big Ang (née Angela Raiola) to Instagram on Thursday, February 18, the “Anaconda” rapper, 33, wrote: “Such a vibrant, loving, genuine spirit. #BigAng.”
Such a vibrant, loving, genuine spirit. 💕 #BigAng
A photo posted by Nicki Minaj (@nickiminaj) on Feb 18, 2016 at 7:47pm PST
As Us Weekly previously reported, Big Ang was diagnosed with throat cancer last March. She died at age 55 at 3:01 a.m. at a New York City hospital after battling stage IV lung and brain cancer on Thursday.
Minaj and Big Ang first became friendly in 2012, when the two exchanged in some funny Twitter banter. Minaj joked about imitating the reality star’s distinctive low voice while she was sick with a cold. “Yes I still sound like Big Ang,” she tweeted, to which Big Ang quipped: “haha what’s better then that.”
Minaj isn’t the only celebrity to honor the VH1 personality’s memory. Big Ang’s close pal and fellow reality star Teresa Giudice also shared her condolences in an emotional tweet. “She was certainly one of a kind and such a beautiful person,” she reminisced. “Prayers for her & her family.”
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"She was surrounded by nothing but love from her immediate family, and closest friends," Big Ang’s friend Vinnie Medugno wrote on her Twitter account shortly after her passing. "YOU, (Her fans) were some of the most special people in the world, and she loved you immensely."
Other stars to pay tribute include Andy Cohen, Teen Mom 2's Jenelle Evans, and Dr. Mehmet Oz among others.
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