Rapper Nicki Minaj ignited a firestorm of criticism on Monday when she expressed hesitancy to get the coronavirus vaccine to attend the upcoming Met Gala.
In her post, Minaj said she will not comply with the upcoming Met Gala’s alleged vaccine mandate until she does “enough research.”
“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. I’m working on that now,” she tweeted. “In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one.”
Further igniting controversy, Minaj said that a friend of her cousin’s back in her native country of Trinidad allegedly experienced impotency after receiving the coronavirus vaccine.
“My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent,” she tweeted. “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.”
Minaj did not specify exactly which vaccine her cousin’s friend received. According to Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, the primary vaccine being distributed in the country is the Sinopharm vaccine from China, though impotency has not been listed as a side effect. It should also be noted that the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine pales in comparison to the American vaccines. From Reuters:
A two-dose COVID-19 vaccine from China’s Sinopharm was 50.4% effective in preventing infections in health workers in Peru when it was seeing a surge in cases fuelled by virus variants, and booster shots can be considered, a study found.
The study involving Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV vaccine, which looked at data from February through June at a time when Peru was fighting a brutal second-wave of infections fuelled by the Lambda and Gamma variants of the coronavirus, was conducted on nearly 400,000 frontline health workers in live conditions.
Most of the health workers received two doses of the vaccine.
People on Twitter suggested that Minaj’s cousin’s friend most likely got an STD and lied about it.
In another tweet, Minaj claimed the rap mega star Drake told her he got infected with the coronavirus after receiving the vaccine. Drake has yet to comment. Minaj received an outpouring of criticism, the most notable of which came from Joy Reid of MSNBC.
“For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives… As a fan, I am so sad that you did that,” said Joy Reid of MSNBC.
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