Nicki Minaj has spoken out about her controversial COVID-19 tweets that she made in 2021.
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The rapper went viral for her series of tweets on the vaccine – most famously, she claimed a friend of her cousin in Trinidad became impotent after receiving the vaccine. “His testicles became swollen,” she wrote on X/Twitter. “His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.”
According to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is currently no evidence showing that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause problems with fertility in women or men.
My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 13, 2021
The allegation sparked global backlash. Chief medical officer of the UK, Chris Whitty, said Minaj “should be ashamed”, adding: “There are a number of myths that fly around, some of which are just clearly ridiculous and some of which are clearly designed just to scare. That happens to be one of them.” Dr Anthony Fauci, the Philadelphia health department and Trinidad & Tobago’s Health Minister were some of the other figures who criticised Minaj for her remarks.
In a new interview with Vogue US, Minaj has responded to the controversy. “I’m one of those people who doesn’t go with a crowd,” she said. “I like to make my own assessment of everything without help from everyone.”
She also spoke about her relationship with politics: “Every time I talk about politics, people get mad. I’m sorry, but I am not going to be told who I should get on social media and campaign for. There’s a lot we don’t know that’s going on in the government, and I don’t think it changes whether you lean to the left or right.”
In the same interview, Minaj also opened up about her past percocet addiction, as she was initially prescribed the drug to help with menstrual cramps and pain: “No one told me that this was a narcotic and this was addictive.
“Luckily I was able to ground myself,” she continued. “But — once an addict, always an addict. I feel like if you’ve ever experienced addiction to anything, which I have, you always have to think twice and three times about the choices that you make.”
Minaj is due to release her next album, ‘Pink Friday 2’, on December 8 to coincide with her birthday. The record was initially due for release on November 17, but was pushed back to avoid a clash with her friend and mentor Lil Wayne’s new album with 2 Chainz.