A concert by US rapper Nicki Minaj in Britain was called off at the last minute Saturday night, after the superstar was detained at Amsterdam’s main airport on suspicion of possessing soft drugs in an incident she partly live-streamed on social media.
The artist was due to perform in Manchester on Saturday, but posted on social media platform X that authorities “said they found weed” in her luggage before briefly taking her into custody.
Minaj said the “pre-rolls” belonged to her security guard and that her bags had been searched “without consent”.
Police confirmed to AFP that they had detained a 41-year-old American woman on suspicion of trying to export soft drugs to another country but declined to say directly that it was Minaj, as per their usual policy.
Military police spokesman Robert Kapel later told AFP that the suspect had been released after the payment of a “reasonable” fine.
The rapper apologised on X to fans for missing the concert, but said she would be back for a second Manchester show on May 30 and that she would be performing in Birmingham on Sunday as part of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.
“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 (ticket) for this show. Promise,” she wrote.
Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, where Saturday’s show was supposed to take place, said in a statement that tickets would remain valid for a new concert date to be announced soon.