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Nicki Minaj has been accused of using her platform to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines. It all started when she explained to fans why she wasn’t attending the Met Gala on September 13.
“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. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one,” she tweeted.
She said she recommended that people get vaccinated and that she would eventually do the same because she has to go on tour.
The “Chun Li” rapper then went on to tell a story she heard from a family member about the COVID-19 vaccine possibly causing his friend to not be able to get an erection.
“My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent,” Minaj continued. “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.”
This is the tweet that caused the Queens rapper to get some major backlash. Many responses shut down her story, saying that the man she is speaking of most likely had a sexually transmitted infection and that his symptoms were not related to the vaccine.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid publicly addressed Minaj on ReidOut and shamed her spreading such inaccurate information to her millions of followers.
You have a platform, Sister, that is 22 million followers. I have 2 million followers. You have 22 million followers on Twitter. For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives… my God, Sister, you can do better than that. You got that platform. It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing that you got that. People listen to you. They listen to you more than they listen to me. “For you to use your platform to put people in the position of dying from a disease they don’t have to die from, oh my God, sister. As a fan, as a hip-hop fan, as somebody who is your fan, I’m so sad that you did that, so sad that you did that, sister. Oh, my God.
https://twitter.com/thereidout/status/1437557324361633796?s=20
Minaj wasn’t apologetic after Reid’s comments and clapped back at her via Twitter.
“This is what happens when you’re so thirsty to down another black woman (by the request of the white man), that you didn’t bother to read all my tweets. ‘My God SISTER do better’ imagine getting ur dumb a** on tv a min after a tweet to spread a false narrative about a black woman,” she posted.
After Reid said her choice words, Meghan McCain was also fuming about her implying that the vaccine causes sexual dysfunction.
“You have an enormous platform and have just spread unimaginable vaccine hesitancy to your fans,” she said on Twitter. “Not only is it deeply irresponsible, it is very sad.”
Minaj responded to McCain with hostility as well, telling her to “eat s***.”
She went on to fire back at news outlets that were reporting that she was refusing to get vaccinated.
“3 lies in a row from huge news platforms,” she tweeted. “I cited my young child as why I didn’t want to travel. But notice how NONE of them mentioned that? Ask yourself why that was.”
Twitter then felt the need to put up a landing page about Minaj’s comment’s not being accurate and reassuring people that the vaccine is safe.
“Contrary to myths circulating on social media and to rapper Nicki Minaj’s tweets during the Met Gala, medical experts and public health organizations say there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines affect male fertility,” the page read. “According to the CDC, professional societies for male reproduction recommend men who want to have babies in the future get a COVID-19 vaccine as “there is no evidence that vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause male fertility problems.”
