Nicki Minaj Looks Back on Her COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Controversy: I Like to Make My Own Assessment – Billboard

Trending on Billboard

Nicki Minaj faced quite a bit of backlash in 2021 for sharing her stance against the coronavirus vaccine. Now, more than two years later, shes still not walking back.

In one of the rappers biggest controversies to date, Minaj was accused of spreading misinformation back when the government first started rolling out preventative shots about a year and a half deep into the global pandemic. Revealing at the time that she wouldnt be attending that years Met Gala because she hadnt been vaccinated, which was required of guests, the Barbie World artist also tweeted that a cousins friend in Trinidad had become impotent after the COVID-19 vaccine allegedly caused his testicles to swell.

Her tweets earned concerned responses from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trinidad & Tobago Health Minister and even the Philadelphia Health Department, each of them debunking her claim and emphasizing that there was no scientific basis to the side effects supposedly made by her cousins friend. She became the butt of late-night jokes and even went toe to toe with both the White House and Piers Morgan over the controversy. But in a new interview, Minaj had no regrets to share.

Im one of those people who doesnt go with a crowd, she told Vogue in her December cover story published Thursday (Nov. 9). I like to make my own assessment of everything without help from everyone.

Every time I talk about politics, people get mad, Minaj added. Im sorry, but I am not going to be told who I should get on social media and campaign for. Theres a lot we dont know thats going on in the government, and I dont think it changes whether you lean to the left or right.

The interview comes one month ahead of Minajs upcoming album, Pink Friday 2, which was originally scheduled to arrive Oct. 20 before being pushed back to Nov. 17. In late October, the Queen of Rap announced that the project would be postponed once more to Dec. 8, her 41st birthday.

See Nicki Minajs Vogue cover and photos below:

See more

Originally posted here:

Nicki Minaj Looks Back on Her COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Controversy: I Like to Make My Own Assessment - Billboard