Nicki Minaj is officially a free woman.
Yesterday (May 25), the “Barbie World” rapper was arrested while traveling in Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to Dutch authorities, Nicki was detained for “exporting soft drugs” in relation to the pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes reportedly found in her possession. Now, the entertainer is speaking out regarding the incident.
Late yesterday evening, Nicki released a statement on her official X (formerly Twitter) account. “Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today,” she wrote. “May God cover you & all that is connected to you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination.”
In the second half of Nicki’s note, she explained why her Pink Friday 2 World Tour stop in Manchester, England was postponed despite her having been released by law enforcement. “After sitting in a jail cell for 5–6 hours, my plane still didn’t take off for another 20 mins once I boarded,” she wrote. “The flight was 50 mins. That’s why they had to do the big song and dance because they knew I’d still find a way to perform even if it came down to my last 90 mins in the building, which would have been until 11:30 p.m. The building was willing to go past 11 p.m. So grateful to them for that.”
Although Nicki’s scheduled show did not take place, she decided to host an impromptu meet-and-greet near her hotel.
the barb that’s wearing a robe & bonnet is soooo meeee lmfaooajsnxxnxkls
#GagCityManchester pic.twitter.com/dsXV24tST5
— leeya✮˙ (@barbices) May 26, 2024
She also promised to circle back to the city to makeup for the missed performance. “Please please please accept my deepest and most sincere apologies,” she wrote. “They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today, but this, too, shall pass. We will have another date for tonight’s show shortly, and I’ll probably be able to share it tomorrow. One July option & one June option is currently being discussed. 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 ticket for this show. Promise.”
Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today. May God cover you & all that is connected to you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination.
Barbz, I’m @ the stock exchange hotel in #Manchester I arrived a little over an hour ago.
After sitting in a jail cell for 5-6 hours, my…— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 26, 2024
Nicki didn’t let up on Dutch authorities. In a separate post, she pointed out that she wasn’t the only Black woman to seemingly have experienced racially charged mistreatment. Nicki reposted the statement shared after Ari Lennox’s 2021 arrest in the country.
She was “full of emotions”. She was arrested b/c she was full of emotions in AmsterDAM. Hmmmmm interesting. I didn’t know this was a “thing” there. Who spoke up for her? Could’ve easily been another Sandra Bland incident. I’m so happy she made it out alive & well. https://t.co/PxI3NWsRNS
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 26, 2024
At this time, a new date has not yet been revealed for the rescheduled Pink Friday 2 World Tour shows.