Nicki Minaj has hit back at the White House after officials denied that she was invited to Washington.
Minaj tweeted yesterday (September 15) that “the White House has invited me” to address her questions about the COVID-19 vaccine before adding: “Yes, I’m going”.
But according to a White House official, the rapper was simply offered a call.
“As we have with others, we offered a call with Nicki Minaj and one of our doctors to answer questions she has about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine,” a White House official said in a statement via Newsweek.
Now Minaj has taken to her Instagram stories to hit back claiming that she was invited to the White House.
The White House has invited me & I think it’s a step in the right direction. Yes, I’m going. I’ll be dressed in all pink like Legally Blonde so they know I mean business. I’ll ask questions on behalf of the ppl who have been made fun of for simply being human. #BallGate day 3 https://t.co/PSa3WcEjH3
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 15, 2021
“We’d like to offer Nicki an invitation to come to the White House to speak with two people,” she said, before recalling that one person was Dr. Fauci and the other was the surgeon general.
“You know what I said? I said, ‘Well, I would rather not have to travel, can we do something like a Live,’ and they said that they’re open to me choosing a platform to do a Live, but they never have taken that off the table for me to come to the White House.”
It comes after the rapper hit the headlines this week after claiming in a tweet on Monday (September 13) that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad had been left impotent after being vaccinated against the virus. “His testicles became swollen,” she added.
Since Minaj’s comments, a host of health officials have debunked her claims, with comedians and entertainment figures satirising the comments.
In a press conference yesterday (September 15), the Honourable Terrence Deyalsingh, Trinidad & Tobago’s Minister of Health, said the country’s officials had looked into Minaj’s claims.
“It is, as far as we know, at this point in time – there has been no such reported either side effect or adverse event,” he said, while Dr Anthony Fauci refuted Minaj’s claims, telling CNN that “there’s no evidence […] nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would” cause fertility issues in men or women.
The UK’s Professor Chris Whitty also said the rapper “should be ashamed of herself” for spreading misinformation.