Nicki Minaj. Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Billboard
Earlier this week, Nicki Minaj posted her thoughts on COVID-19 vaccines and the Met Gala. It did not go over well. "They want you to get vaccinated for the Met," she wrote. "If I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research."
As fans pushed back, Minaj shared a fan's dubious claim of side effects followed by one of her own: "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."
Outrage ensued, to the point where Trinidad & Tobago Health Minister Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh responded to Minaj's claim on Wednesday. "Unfortunately we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim," Dr. Deyalsingh said. "As far as we know at this point in time, there has been no such reported side effect or adverse event." Watch the clip from his press conference below.
As Pitchfork points out, Dr. Anthony Fauci has also strongly denied any connection between the COVID-19 vaccines and swollen balls. “There’s no evidence that it happens," Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper, "nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen."
Soon after the controversy erupted, Minaj claimed that media outlets were purposefully ignoring other pro-vaccine tweets, and that she had skipped the Met Gala to take care of her son. Yesterday she was publicly negotiating an appearance for her cousin's friend on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
