Rapper Nicki Minaj cancels gig in England after being fined in Amsterdam for alleged drug possession

AMSTERDAM – American rapper Nicki Minaj on May 25 cancelled a show in Manchester, England, after she said she was held by the police at Amsterdam Schiphol airport on allegations of possession of soft drugs.

“Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, the events of today have made it impossible,” the Co-op Live venue in Manchester said in a post on social media platform X.

The rapper apologised on X to fans for missing the concert, but said she would be back for a second Manchester show on May 30 and that she would be performing in Birmingham on May 26 as part of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.

“I’ll find a way to not only make up the date with the performance, but I’m going to create an added bonus for everyone that had a tkt (ticket) for this show. Promise,” she wrote.

Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, where the May 25 show was supposed to take place, said in a statement that tickets would remain valid for a new concert date to be announced soon.

Thousands of fans had been allowed into the venue on May 25 before the show was called off. Videos posted on social media showed a packed arena, long queues of concertgoers and supporters chanting “Free Nicki Minaj” in solidarity with the detained superstar.

The hashtag #FreeNicki also trended on X.

Minaj, 41, was detained hours before the show had been scheduled to start.

Dutch military police confirmed a 41-year-old American woman had been held for possession of soft drugs on May 25, adding that it was prohibited to take such substances out of the Netherlands.

The police did not identify the suspect, but in a later post on X said the woman had been fined and released around 1945 GMT (3.45am on May 26, Singapore time).

That was 45 minutes after Minaj had been due to begin performing at the Manchester Co-op Live.

Military police spokesman Robert Kapel told AFP that the amount of the fine was “reasonable”.

The singer had earlier posted a video on X in which a Schiphol employee apparently told her that the police wanted to “search all her luggage”.

Another video on her social media showed a police officer telling her she was “carrying drugs”. In the video, Minaj denies that.

In her X post, the rapper said the authorities told her they had found cannabis in her luggage, which she said belonged to her security personnel.

“Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him,” she wrote, referring to marijuana joints.

“Now they said I have to go five mins (minutes) away to make a statement about my security to the police precinct,” she said. “It’s to try to make me late so that they can write negative stories.”

A common misconception outside the Netherlands is that dope is legal in the country, home to world-famous coffee shops – which actually sell pot – that are a huge draw for cannabis smokers.

The consumption of small quantities of cannabis is technically illegal, but the police choose not to enforce the law as part of a “tolerance” policy in place since the 1970s.

Transporting the drugs to another country is illegal.

‘Sabotage’

Minaj’s profanity-laced lyrics, skin-baring videos and unique, animated flow catapulted her to fame in 2010.

Known for a bold sartorial style that includes neon costumes and wigs, Minaj – whose hits include Starships, Bang Bang and Anaconda – is considered one of rap’s most influential female artistes.

“They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show,” she posted on her Instagram account.

“This is what it looks like when ppl (people) are paid big money to try to sabotage a tour after all else failed,” she said.

Minaj’s brash personality and penchant for controversy have also made her a tabloid regular, in particular a feud at a Fashion Week 2018 afterparty that saw rap rival Cardi B throw a shoe and allegedly attempt to fight Minaj.

The rapper also hit the headlines during the Covid-19 pandemic after skipping New York’s star-studded Met Gala because of its requirement that attendees be vaccinated.

She said she would get the jab only once she had “done enough research”.

She said a friend of a cousin in Trinidad had experienced swollen testicles after getting the vaccine – claims that sparked a formal rebuttal from the Caribbean nation’s health minister.

The former American Idol judge played a show in Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome on May 23 and is due to return there for another show on June 2. REUTERS, AFP