Given Nicki Minaj‘s mind-boggling physique, you can be forgiven for not noticing that her “Anaconda” performance featured exactly zero snakes, despite (or maybe because of) the weekend report that one of her backup dancers was bit by a snake during VMAs rehearsals.
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According to TMZ, the same boa constrictor from Friday night’s “Anaconda” rehearsal was present at the L.A. Forum on Sunday, but it was sent home hours before the show started. Clearly, no one wanted a repeat performance.
But don’t be so quick to judge the bite-y boa! CNN spoke to Chris Velvin, director of production safety for Viacom Media, who defended the snake — a fellow by the name of Rocky — as an old pro. “He’s a professional entertainment snake,” Velvin said. “He’s been doing this for 15 years.”
Maybe Rocky needs to meet the boa constrictor version of Apollo Creed if he’s gonna keep acting like this.
Note: Boa constrictors, incidentally, are not venomous, and the bitten backup dancer was immediately treated for non life-threatening injuries.