- The Washington Times - Monday, September 13, 2021

Pop singer Nicki Minaj urged caution against vaccinations Monday, and told an odd story.

The rapper, who was born Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty in Trinidad and raised in New York, polled her Twitter followers about COVID vaccinations and relayed an account of purported side-effects of the vaccine.

“My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen,” Ms. Minaj said.
“His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding,” she added.

Ms. Minaj cautioned her followers to “just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.”

The story prompted some snickers from other Twitter users — the vaccine isn’t known to cause swollen testicles and impotence.

“Your cousin’s friend prolly just picked up an STD but please keep going,” replied one user, while others counseled her on the risks of both COVID and vaccination, with varying degrees of bawdiness.

She also said in Monday’s tweetstorm that she will not attend Monday’s annual Met Gala because of the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met,” she tweeted.

Ms. Minaj also implied that she had caught the disease previously, though she did add though that she expects to get vaccinated at some point and asked her followers which one to get.

“It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one,” she wrote.

• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.

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