Nicki Minaj arrested, slapped with fine in Amsterdam for allegedly carrying drugs
Nicki Minaj was arrested in Amsterdam on Saturday for allegedly carrying drugs — despite the “Super Bass” songstress’ repeated insistence that she had no contraband, according to police and Instagram Live footage she posted of the incident.
The rapper was slapped with a fine and allowed to “continue her journey,” Dutch officials wrote on X.
The arrest forced Minaj to cancel her concert in Manchester, England, where she had been traveling to perform.
In a video Minaj posted of the incident on Instagram, an official says that they wanted to take the “Bang Bang” rapper into custody for “carrying drugs.”
“I’m not going in there. I need a lawyer present,” the 41-year-old replied.
The officer also mentioned her concert scheduled for Saturday night in Manchester, England, and said they would “try to get [her] there” as soon as possible.
“Oh, so I’m under arrest?” Minah asked, while multiple officers repeatedly asked her to stop filming.
In a second video, Minaj appeared to be seated inside a vehicle while speaking to a uniformed man about the plans to go through all her bags.
“Why didn’t you guys search it before they went on the plane?” she asked.
The man shrugged and said that the previous officer did not believe the rap star was not carrying drugs — and was miffed that she had filmed him.
Police have not identified the name of the person arrested, but Dutch police confirmed they had “arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport because of possession of soft drugs.”
“Now they said they found weed & that another group of ppl have to come here to weigh the pre-rolls,” Minaj wrote on X around 10:30 a.m. ET.
“Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him. Oh yea & the pilot wants me to take my ig post down,” she added.
The rapper went on to lament that her plane was being held up by at least two hours.
After initially postponing Minaj’s concert, Co-op Live, the arena where she was supposed to perform, announced hours after her arrest that the show had been canceled.
Tickets will remain valid for a rescheduled concert at the brand-new arena, the UK’s largest entertainment venue.
“Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, the events of today have made it impossible,” the arena tweeted.
“We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused.”
Fans of the music superstar took to social media with the hashtag “#FREENICKI” after news of the incident broke.
Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam as long as an individual has no more than 5 grams of cannabis on them at one time, according to a government website.
Other harder drugs are illegal.
Minaj is no stranger to legal troubles: Just two months ago, she and her husband, Kenneth Petty, were ordered to pay $500,000 to a German security guard over an alleged backstage beating that left him with a broken jaw, Rolling Stone reported.
The victim, Thomas Weidenmuller, sued the couple in 2022, claiming that Petty assaulted him when he tried to defend a female security guard in a tiff with Minaj during a performance in 2019, the outlet said.
Petty — whom Minaj married in 2019 — is a sex offender who spent four years behind bars in New York following a conviction for attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl in April 1995.
He also served another seven years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Petty, 46, was arrested again in March 2020 because he failed to register as a sex offender when he moved in with Minaj in California, the outlet explained.
He was ultimately sentenced to a year of house arrest with three years probation, in addition to a $55,000 fine.
In August 2021, Petty’s victim, Jennifer Hough, sued both Petty and Minaj for alleged harassment, intimidation and infliction of emotional distress.
The suit against Minaj was dropped in January 2022, but the case against Petty remains pending, according to Billboard.
Despite the controversy, Minaj has repeatedly defended her marriage to Petty — with whom she now shares a child.
Earlier this year, Minaj and Petty’s relationship made headlines yet again when Megan Thee Stallion referred to Petty’s sex offender status on her diss track “Hiss.”
