Peso Pluma and Nicki Nicole break up under social media scrutiny
A viral video triggered the end of the singers’ love affair
Peso Pluma took advantage of every red-carpet interview at the 2024 Grammy Awards to mention his courtship with Nicki Nicole. But a little over a week later, the Argentine rapper confirmed the end of their relationship with a message on social media in which she insinuated that the split was due to infidelity on the part of Hassan Kabande Laija, the real name of the Mexican singer.
There was no time to plan a strategy to minimize the media fallout. Speculation began Tuesday morning when a video went viral on the social network X (formerly Twitter) in which Peso Pluma is seen being accompanied by a woman, whose identity is unknown. Nicole’s fans soon noticed that the emcee had deleted her photos with the Mexican regional artist on Instagram. The public began to come to conclusions and choose sides.
In response to this scrutiny, Nicole Denise Cuccose, the real name of the Argentine artist, shared a message on her profile. “Respect is a necessary part of love. What you love, you respect. What you respect, you take care of. With so much pain, know that I found out the way you all did. Thank you for the love you’re sending me,” she wrote. The corridos tumbados singer has yet to make a statement regarding the matter.
Media breakups are nothing new. Many will recall the controversy generated by the divorce of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, who were one of the most beloved couples in Hollywood until the actor began an affair with his co-star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Angelina Jolie. There was extensive tabloid coverage of the affair, and fans declared themselves Team Aniston or Team Jolie. Social media has radically changed how the public interacts with celebrity relationships.
In the case of Peso Pluma and Nicki Nicole, the couple were under the scrutiny of social media since the very beginning of their relationship. When they had just started dating, Nicole struck back against the Mexican’s followers when, upon being questioned in an interview about their relationship, she made an unfortunate comparison. “Imagine if you go out with a dog every day. Nobody is going to ask you why you go out with a dog every day,” she said. Faced with criticism over the comment, she ultimately had to apologize, saying that she simply got nervous addressing the subject. Despite that uncomfortable episode, the artists decided to move forward and their public appearances became frequent and — just like the rest of their moments together — went viral.
Fans celebrated when, in a show with the singer Anitta, Peso Pluma avoided dancing with her out of respect for his girlfriend. TikTok users made hundreds of videos compiling his most romantic moments with Nicole, like when they kissed onstage during one of her concerts in Mexico City. Nonetheless, at the first sign that something had gone wrong, the tone of the conversation on social media shifted radically.
After the Grammys ceremony, many commented that he seemed much more in love than she did. Days before the Peso Pluma clip in Las Vegas, it was the rapper who provoked speculation when she was seen at the airport in the company of another man. Later on, the individual was identified as her supposed manager. Then came the theories about the real reason for their love story’s ending. If the formula that has been followed by other young singers who have recently had their hearts broken is anything to go by, it seems we’ll have to wait for them to put out a song to know what really happened between the pair.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition