Another day, another influencer relationship drama on social media. This time, the players are American rapper Ice Spice, UK rapper Central Cee and British TikTok influencer Madeline Argy - and it’s turned into a bit of a messy love triangle.
The social media storm began when 24-year-old Argy posted a video to her more than seven million followers on TikTok accusing her on-again, off-again boyfriend Central Cee of cheating on her with Ice Spice (yikes). After Argy’s video blew up online, the Ice Spice referenced the drama in her own TikTok video, which many view as a not-so-subtle dig at Argy.
If you’re not chronically online, or just have no idea what’s going on, here’s everything you need to know.
Where did the cheating allegations come from?
It all kicked off earlier this month, when 26-year-old Central Cee (real name Oakley Neil Caesar-Su) and 24-year-old Ice Spice (real name Isis Naija Gaston) released a song together titled “Did It First”, accompanied by a very raunchy music video. In the track, released on July 12, Ice Spice and Central Cee both rap about cheating on their respective partners.
For those who haven’t heard the song, the particular the lyric in question on Central Cee’s part is as follows: “I’m selective with who I get with / Gyal on my phone tryna see who I slept with / She investigating, detective / Lucky for me, I deleted the message / All along, it was me and a bad b***ch / But I told her it was me and my bredrin.”
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♬ KEHLANI - Jordan Adetunji
Central Cee has been romantically linked to Argy since 2022. Naturally, the internet was quick to connect the dots, and question if he was rapping about their relationship.
The couple were in an on-again, off-again relationship before officially splitting in September 2023. However, Argy and Central Cee reconnected at some point this year and were spotted in Nigeria in June for a music video shoot.
Fans thought the two had reignited their romance, but those hopes were dashed when Central Cee was seen shopping with Ice Spice in London and spending time together at a hookah lounge. The duo also performed their new song at London’s Wireless Festival on July 12, and Ice shared a picture of them, along with other photos from her performance.
What did Madeline Argy say about the drama?
The paparazzi photos of Central Cee and Ice Spice prompted Argy to take to TikTok, where she shared her side of the story in a five-part video series which has amassed 250 million collective views.
“I did not know that any of this […] was going to happen,” Argy says in the first video. “Let me take you guys back a couple months. I’m laid up in bed and [Central Cee] comes to me and he’s like, ‘I have a new song to show you’. And I’m like, ‘Yes, serenade me!’ And then he plays me his verse. I’m like… not only did you just snitch on yourself that you’re cheating, but you just told me exactly how.”
She says that Central Cee told her that the lyrics were simply part of a marketing stunt, and there was no truth behind the sentiment.
“A while later, he tells me he wants to hire an influencer to do one of those ‘lip-syncing’ videos to one of his older songs. So I’m like, ‘Okay, makes sense’,” Argy continues. “He didn’t tell me he was sending her his personal car to start a dating rumor with her. I was with you guys knee-deep in that comment section [trying to work out what was going on]/ We were still together.”
Argy’s management team were by this point apparently concerned about Central Cee “starting a dating rumor with another girl”, especially since the pair were supposed to visit Nigeria in two days.
“And this is when it clicks. This is not a ‘bae-cation’,” Argy says. “I have just entered this man’s marketing scheme. So I say I’ll still come to Nigeria based on the one condition, that none of the professional photos that are taken of us get posted, because I’ve just realised what is happening,” she explains, adding, “Shocker, the pictures get out.”
Argy suggests that Central Cee had orchestrated a “plot” to be seen with multiple women, so that it garnered attention for his song with Ice Spice. Argy claimed that she tried to break up with the rapper in mid-June, but he told her he wouldn’t be around until mid-July.
“I then remember he also gave me a release date for the song, and I’m realising that it’s only like a month and a bit away…and that I am knee-deep in this guy’s plot,” she said. “I didn’t want to be seen with him… for as long as possible before this song drops, because I want to be as far away from that conversation as humanly possible,” she added.
The next day, photos of him and Ice Spice shopping together appeared online. “I didn’t even actually get to break up with him and he’s already with the next girl,” Argy explained. According to her, that phone call was the last time the pair spoke.
What has Ice Spice said about it all?
For a while, neither Central Cee nor Ice Spice had addressed Argy’s TikTok videos. However, that all changed when Ice Spice posted a video on social media which appeared to throw some heavy shade at Argy. The Bronx native shared a TikTok of herself doing some push-ups on a private jet, and in the caption, she wrote: “Mood after takin ha manzzz.”
Fans also spotted a now-deleted video of Argy doing push-ups, sparking a debate over whose video came first, and who did it second to make fun of the other.
Some fans have speculated that the beef could be manufactured, with the whole drama being a publicity stunt to boost the careers of all players involved. If attention is their goal, they have certainly succeeded.
