When Nicki Minaj announced the European leg of her Pink Friday 2 Tour back in December, the singer and rapper was slated to perform in Manchester, England on May 25. But when Minaj attempted to fly out of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to the concert this past Saturday, she was stopped by Dutch authorities.
Livestreaming from her Instagram account, Minaj shared with fans as she was detained and then arrested for the possession of “soft drugs.” As Minaj waited to see whether she’d be released, nearly 20,000 fans gathered at Co-Op Live, the venue for that evening’s show. At 9:30 pm in the U.K., the time when Minaj’s performance would have started, the venue made the announcement that the concert would be postponed.
Minaj wrote on Twitter that the police found pre-rolled joints in her bags at the airport which initiated her detention and a search of her and her team’s belongings. She later clarified that the joints belonged to a member of her security team. In her videos, Minaj is heard asking several times for a lawyer before ultimately complying with the police’s request to get into a van and go to the police station.
Minaj was eventually fined and released but then faced another 20-minute delay once she boarded her plane, according to a statement the singer posted to Twitter. She arrived at her hotel in Manchester a little past midnight, an hour after the concert venue closed.
“Please please please accept my deepest & most sincere apologies,” she wrote to her fans. “They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today but this too, shall pass.” Minaj implied throughout the statement, and in several other Tweets, that the arrest had been a form of intentional sabotage. She also promised to reschedule the show and “create an added bonus” for all ticket holders of the original date.
Many fans reacted positively, expressing their sympathy and gratitude that Minaj was safe.
Others, particularly those who traveled for the original Manchester tour date, were not so easily pleased.
Minaj announced on May 27 that the show was rescheduled for June 3, open only to ticket holders of the original date.
Though some fans worried that the new schedule might impact Minaj’s June 2 and June 5 shows in Amsterdam and Cologne respectively, others were satisfied in knowing that the rapper had done her best to amend the situation.
“Love you, the fact that you’re thinking about the barbz even after everything you went through,” wrote one fan on Twitter. “Your heart is so pure, we appreciate everything you do for us.”
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