Nicki Minaj has been released from custody after being arrested at a Dutch airport on suspicion of carrying drugs.
The 41-year-old rapper was arrested on Saturday (25.05.24) at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on suspicion of possession of soft drugs but was released around 9pm UK time, and Dutch police told Sky News that she will have to pay a fine for her actions.
The 'Barbie World' hitmaker had been due to land in Manchester for the opening UK show of her 'Friday Night 2' world tour but after delaying the time that the doors were due to open, the Co-Op Live Arena announced that the whole gig had been postponed.
The full statement read: "Nicki Minaj’s scheduled performance at Manchester’s Co-op Live on Saturday 25th May has been postponed. Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance which will be announced ASAP.
"Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, the events of today have made it impossible. We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused. More information will be available at your point of purchase.
Nicki first alerted fans to what had happened with a video on Instagram, in which she had a conversation with an airport official, who claimed they needed to "offload all the luggage" and carry out a search.
The official tells her: "The police officer told me we have to offload all the luggage. Okay, and to search everything, your luggage. I'm so sorry to say that."
Nicki replied: "But isn't that what you planned on doing from the get go? Why didn't you guys search it before it went on the plan?"
The official tried to explain to the 'Anaconda' singer that the check was initially random but their suspicion grew after she started filming as she vehemently denied she was carrying anything like drugs.
Nicki argued: "They asked me 'Do I have any more in those purses?' And I said no. And I asked him Where are my bags? They took my bags and put it on the plane before I could know what bags I wanted to place. Yeah. So..."
The 'Super Bass' hitmaker then alleged in the caption of her Instagram post that officials have tried to "stop" her from getting to every stop on her tour and claimed that people had been paid a lot of money to try to "sabotage" her run of shows.
She wrote: "They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show. They took my bags before I could see them. Put it on the plane. Now saying they’re waiting on customs. This is what it looks like when ppl are paid big money to try to sabotage a tour after all else failed. Everything they’ve done is illegal!"
