Whelp, blame Amsterdam authorities. Nicki Minaj’s concert at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, which drew thousands of fans, was abruptly postponed due to her arrest in the Netherlands just hours before the show. The 41-year-old American singer and rapper was detained at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on suspicion of possessing soft drugs.
The Queens rapper was rightfully upset but she still apologized to her fans after finally arriving in Manchester late Saturday night. She posted on X: “Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today. May God cover you and all that is connected to you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination. Please please please accept my deepest & most sincere apologies.”
Despite Minaj’s detention, fans were allowed into the indoor venue on Saturday evening. A post on the arena’s X account around 5:15 PM stated, “Please note that general admission and premium doors for tonight’s Nicki Minaj show will now open at 19:00.”
Minaj was released from custody just before 9 PM. However, she will have to pay an undisclosed fine for “illegally exporting soft drugs from the Netherlands to another country,” according to Dutch police, as reported by Sky News.
However, in the early hours of Sunday, she posted a live stream on Instagram from central Manchester, showing a crowd of fans gathered in the street below.
Get this: The concert will be rescheduled, with promoters Live Nation stating: “Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance, which will be announced ASAP. Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, today’s events have made it impossible. We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused.”
Here’s how Minaj spoke on the issue on socials … In several social media posts on X and Instagram, Minaj claimed the police said they found drugs in her luggage after customs checks. She wrote on X: “They said they found weed.” She also asserted, “They took my luggage without consent” and “They’re trying to keep me from MANCHESTER.” Additionally, she commented: “This is Amsterdam btw, where weed is legal.”
Minaj was also ready to document the incident, as she filmed what seemed to be an airport official asking her to have her luggage checked. She later wrote: “It’s a 45 minute to an hour flight. So they’re probably trying to stall for about 4 hours.” She added: “Now they said I have to go 5 mins away to make a statement about my security to the police precinct.”
Robert van Kapel, a spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee military police, confirmed to NBC News, Sky News’ US partner network, “We can confirm that we have arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport because of possession of soft drugs.”
Source link
