Nicki Minaj apologises for Manchester cancellation, says she was held in Dutch jail cell for “5-6 hours”

26 May, 2024

Nicki Minaj has apologised to fans for having to postpone her show in Manchester last night (May 25), saying she spent “5-6 hours” in a Dutch jail cell earlier in the day.

The rapper was due to take her ‘Pink Friday 2’ live show to the city’s Co-Op Live venue as part of her ongoing UK and European tour, but she was unable to make it to the gig after the events in the Netherlands.

Minaj had livestreamed her own arrest in the afternoon, as she appeared to be detained by Dutch police for allegedly “carrying drugs” while travelling between countries. The Dutch National Police Corps later confirmed she had been arrested.

As doors opened at Co-Op Live at 7pm, it was unclear whether Minaj would be able to make it on time, but the announcement finally came at around 9:30pm that she would not be performing.

Minaj then posted on social media in the early hours of Sunday morning (May 26) to apologise and update fans on the current situation. “Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today,” she began. “May God cover you & all that is connected to you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination.”

She went on to explain that she had now arrived in Manchester, but narrowly missed out on the chance to make it to Co-Op Live.

“After sitting in a jail cell for 5-6 hours, my plane still didn’t take off for another 20 mins once I boarded. The flight was 50 mins. 50 mins. That’s why they had to do the big song & dance b/c they knew I’d still find a way to perform even if it came down to my last 90 mins in the building which would have been until 1130pm.”

“The building was willing to go past 11pm. So grateful to them for that,” she added.

Minaj then says she believes the Dutch authorities had deliberately stopped her from making the show, saying she will “have the lawyers & GOD take it from here”.

“Please please please accept my deepest & most sincere apologies. They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today but this too, shall pass. They’ve been doing this over & over & over & over & over again & I’ve tried so hard to not discuss it b/c you guys deserve to just get the good stuff. I hate involving you in anything that isn’t for entertainment purposes only,” she continued.

She said they are currently working on plans to reschedule the Manchester date, with an option in June and another in July being considered. “I’ll find a way to not only make up the date with the performance but I’m going to create an added bonus for everyone that had a tkt for this show. Promise.”

She concluded by confirming that the Birmingham date on Sunday (May 26) and her second Manchester date on May 30 will go ahead as planned.

In an Instagram Live stream on Saturday afternoon, Minaj filmed what appeared to be a group of Dutch police officers arresting her and asking her to enter a police vehicle so they could take her to the station.

Watch the footage below:

In the video, the officers tell her that they believe she is “carrying drugs”, which she immediately denies. Minaj repeatedly says that she is not going anywhere without the presence of a lawyer, to which one of the officers attempts to explain that she would “get a lawyer at the office”, and that they would go “as fast as possible”.

Minaj asks for the address of the station they are going to, which they do not give. The officers also explain that they will try to help her get to her show in Manchester.

Earlier in the day, Minaj had posted a series of tweets that appeared to show her bags being searched thoroughly at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

“They’ve been trying everything they possibly can to TRY to stop this tour,” she wrote in one post.

“They took my luggage & when I asked where it is they said it’s on the plane. It couldn’t have been, I just pulled up,” read another.

Minaj’s current tour comes in celebration of her long-awaited ‘Pink Friday 2’ album, which arrived in December and received a four-star review from NME‘s Nick Levine upon its release.

Levine wrote: “‘Pink Friday 2’ feels like a consolidation and refinement of everything Minaj can do – including dropping pop culture references that no other artist would think of. “Ducking ’em like Björk?” That’s surely a wink to the Icelandic musician’s infamous skirmish with a photographer. Thirteen years after ‘Pink Friday’, Nicki Minaj hasn’t lost her ability to catch us by surprise.”

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