Nicki Minaj was trending on Twitter Monday night (Sept. 13) and Tuesday morning (Sept. 14) for her comments about the COVID-19 vaccine. As reported, the 38-year-old revealed she has not been vaccinated against the deadly virus while telling fans she would not be attending Monday night’s Met Gala.
“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. If I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research,” she tweeted on Monday.
Nicki also said she was “working on” learning more about the vaccines and claimed a relative’s friend suffered health complications after being vaccinated. However, after several outlets reported on her comments, the Queen rapper returned to Twitter to clarify her statements.
“[Three] lies in a row from huge news platforms,” Nicki tweeted alongside articles by Yahoo!, USA Today and The Daily Beast, all of which said she refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The first-time mom said she also avoided the Met Gala because she wasn’t willing to jeopardize her young son’s health, a detail she accused the outlets of ignoring.
“I cited my young child as why I didn’t want to travel,” Nicki wrote. “But notice how NONE of them mentioned that? Ask yourself why that was.”
In other tweets, Nicki also encouraged fans to wear masks, get vaccinated and said she will get vaccinated herself before she goes out on tour.
“A lot of countries won’t let ppl work w/o the vaccine. I’d def recommend they get the vaccine. They have to feed their families,” she tweeted. “I’m sure I’ll b vaccinated as well cuz I have to go on tour, etc.”
The Trinidadian rapper also revealed she recently contracted the virus and suggested it was the reason she skipped performing at the 2021 MTV VMAs.
“I was prepping for vmas then I shot a video & guess who got COVID? Do u know what it is not to be able to kiss or hold your tiny baby for over a week? A baby who is only used to his mama?” she wrote. “‘Get vaccinated’ Drake had just told me he got covid w/ THE VACCINE tho so chile.”
Fans on Twitter had mixed reactions to Nicki’s comments. Some followers thanked the rapper for “having this dialogue utilizing her platform.”
“She’s showing people it’s safe & ok to have these conversations, to share our questions, experiences, concerns, reassurances, differences,” one person tweeted.
Others, such as MSNBC host Joy Reid, chastised Nicki for “encourag[ing] our community to not protect themselves and save their lives.” Nicki later responded to Reid on Twitter, calling “The Reid Out” host “uncle tomiana” and accusing her of “spread[ing] a false narrative about a Black woman.”
See Nicki’s latest tweets below.