Nicki Minaj Says She Pulled Out Of The VMAs Because She Caught COVID But She Still Won’t Get Vaccinated

Over the course of the pandemic, two major threads of hip-hop artists have emerged: Those who have supported common-sense safety measures and efforts to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus’ spread, and those who have made light of its impacts and the efforts to slow its movement throwout vulnerable populations. Unfortunately, many of those who have cast aspersions on things like vaccines have massive platforms — which makes their reticence both disappointing and incredibly dangerous.

This afternoon, “Seeing Green” rapper Nicki Minaj addressed a fan account that noted that she hadn’t made a public appearance in over a year. “I have an infant with no nannies during COVID,” she explained. “Not risking his health to be seen.” Reasonable enough. However, the longer she addressed the conversation, the closer she toed the line, eventually revealing that she had caught COVID herself while preparing for the VMAs.

“I was prepping for vmas then i shot a video & guess who got COVID?” she wrote. “Do u know what it is not to be able to kiss or hold your tiny baby for over a week? A baby who is only used to his mama?” But then, she overshared, questioning the efficacy of the vaccine, saying Drake told her he caught the virus despite being vaccinated (which, is, you know, how vaccines work). She also claimed that she had the “exact same symptoms” as people who were vaccinated.

She then started sharing vaccine horror stories from fans and ones from her family. While stories of this kind have circulated since the three different vaccines were introduced, statistically, they are rarer than people actually dying from the vaccine, which is a number in the high six figures in the US alone. Nicki said that she was “doing her own research” and well… we all know what that means.

At least she told fans to continue to wear masks — unlike another rap veteran, Busta Rhymes, who went on an anti-mask rant a few months ago. Still, it’s pretty easy to interpret her reluctance as just another extension of the hesitation lots of Black folks have unfortunately had over the past year — a hesitation that’s getting 1,000 people a day killed. Just get the damn shot, y’all. Check out some reactions as well.

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