Nicki Minaj has responded to the Philadelphia Public Health Department’s take on her viral COVID tweet from last year, where she expressed scepticism around the vaccine.
The rapper originally discussed the COVID vaccine in a series of tweets posted on September 13. She started by replying to a Twitter user who noted Minaj had last appeared in public over a year ago. “I have an infant with no nannies during COVID,” she said. “Who mad? Not risking his health to be seen.”
“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met,” she continued, referring to the 2021 Met Gala, which required attendees to show proof of vaccination, test negative for COVID and wear a mask at all times unless they’re eating.
The rapper said that she would get vaccinated “once I feel I’ve done enough research”, then claimed that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad had been made impotent by a COVID vaccine and “his testicles became swollen”.
This week, the Philadelphia Public Health Department used a screenshot of her viral tweet alongside the eyes emoji to respond to something Minaj posted without context on February 16. “Nothing like watching someone speak confidently about something they know nothing about,” the tweet read.
👀 https://t.co/btZmhv8YqX pic.twitter.com/58m6X1tFU6
— Philadelphia Public Health (@PHLPublicHealth) February 18, 2022
In a series of now deleted tweets, Minaj responded: “Philadelphia’s public health account is posting Nicki Minaj tweets for engagement. They are attempting to shame ppl for advising others to PRAY, be COMFORTABLE & NOT BE BULLIED. I’ve never seen a vaccine trigger this amount of shaming & fear tactics have you? #DoWeHaveAProblem”
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She also replied to a fan who said they were “starting to believe the conspiracy theorist” after seeing the Health Department’s tweets. “Good job guys. You just convinced more ppl to NOT get the vaccine you want them to get. Yaaaayyyyy,” she wrote, adding, “Why TF won’t u just get off MY testicles?”
The original claim about her cousin’s friend was dismissed by Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister Terrence Deyalsingh, who said that their department “wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim”.
England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that Minaj should be “ashamed” of her comments, while US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said the rapper should “be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis”.
In other news, Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby shared their new collaborative single ‘Bussin’ earlier this month.
It comes after the rappers teamed up at the start of February on ‘Do We Have A Problem?’, which marked Minaj’s first music release of 2022.