Concert Postponed After Nicki Minaj's Drug Arrest

Police release rapper after saying her luggage at Amsterdam airport contained drugs
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 25, 2024 3:53 PM CDT
Updated May 25, 2024 4:35 PM CDT
Nicki Minaj Races to Concert After Drug Arrest in Amsterdam
Nicki Minaj performs during the MTV Video Music Awards in September in Newark.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

The Nicki Minaj concert in England scheduled for Saturday night was postponed after the American rapper was arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on suspicion of an offense police described as "possessing soft drugs." After being fined, Minaj was released and resumed her trip to Manchester, the BBC reports. Hours later, with thousands of fans already in Co-op Live, the promoter announced the concert was being postponed, per the AP. "Despite Nicki's best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight's show happen, the events of today have made it impossible," Live Nation said in a statement.

Minaj tweeted earlier Saturday that she was stopped as she was about to board her flight in Amsterdam and told her bags would be searched. Police told her they found marijuana, she said. Minaj's posts said police were trying to make her late to her concert to prompt negative stories about her. "Jealousy is a disease," she tweeted. Minaj posted video on Instagram Live of her arrest in which she denies having any drugs, per the Guardian. She seems to be told to get into a police van and that she "would get a lawyer at the office." Someone assures her police will go "as fast as possible."

The doors to Co-op Live in Manchester opened later than scheduled, and a manager said a helicopter was standing by at Manchester Airport to deliver Minaj to the show. As fans aware of the arrest began to fill the arena, a chant of "Free Nicki Minaj!" went up. Concertgoers said she's often late anyway. "I really hope she comes on," said a fan from Newcastle. "But it's Nicki so we knew it would be delayed somehow." Cannabis is illegal in the Netherlands, per the AP, but generally is tolerated for recreational use. "They're being paid big money to try to sabotage my tour b/c soooooo many ppl are mad that it's this successful," Minaj posted, per NBC News. (More Nicki Minaj stories.)

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