After taking to Twitter to have a candid conversation with fans about her experience with the coronavirus and her thoughts on vaccines, Nicki Minaj found herself embroiled in controversy.
But first, the backstory. It all started when it was pointed out that Minaj hadn’t been making public appearances lately. She was initially set to attend the Video Music Awards, but pulled out days before Sunday’s show. There was also talk that she would be at the Met Gala, but ultimately, Minaj chose to stay home. She reminded people that she had just given birth to a child during the pandemic and wanted to ensure he would stay safe.
She then noted that when she was prepping for the VMAs, she contracted the virus and had to quarantine away from her son, whom she publicly refers to as Papa Bear. She went on to say fellow rapper and friend Drake told her he got vaccinated, but still managed to get sick.
Minaj then spoke about not being vaccinated and how that played into her also not attending the Met Gala. She didn’t say she would never get it, though. Instead, she said “if I get vaccinated, it won’t [sic] for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now.”
She also encouraged people to be safe, mentioning that as certain places and employers are requiring vaccinations of people, the likelihood of her getting the shots is high because of her own work commitments. So she asked her fans which vaccine they would recommend, taking a poll and applauding fans who said they had positive results from getting vaccinated.
Nevertheless, the controversy came from some information Minaj shared about a friend of a relative whom was claimed to have had a negative reaction to his vaccine. However, some on social media pointed out that the individual mentioned might have just ended up with an STD, as the symptoms shared have not been documented as side-effects of the shot.
The Reid Out‘s Joy Ann-Reid ended up seeing that particular message and spoke about it on her MSNBC program, criticizing Minaj for using her platform to, as she claimed, encourage “our people” to not protect themselves by getting the shot. She said she was “so sad” about the information the rapper shared.
Minaj caught wind of Reid’s message to her and aside from calling her a few things we won’t mention, she chastised the news host. She accused her of using her platform to spread a false narrative about another Black woman.
It’s clear that conversations about vaccinations are turning into debates and are getting more and more complicated and contentious by the day. That’s unfortunate as we’re at a time when infection and death rates for COVID-19 are increasing again and we need to unite more than be divided. Doing the research and making the best, safest and informed decisions for ourselves, our families and those we come into contact with is the best plan of action right now. Hopefully, we can all agree on that.