Nicki Minaj misses gig due to Amsterdam airport arrest

Nicki Minaj's Co-op Live Arena show in Manchester on Saturday night was postponed following her arrest in the Netherlands.

Fans were let into the venue on Saturday evening despite the 41-year-old US singer and rapper being detained at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

The gig will be moved to a later date with a statement from Live Nation saying: "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."

Dutch police said a woman, 41, was arrested after allegedly trying to take soft drugs from Schiphol Airport to another country.

An update from the force at around 9pm stated that it had released the "suspect and she can now move on".

In a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, the singer said she had arrived at her hotel in Manchester early on Sunday morning after spending "5-6 hours" in a cell and a delay to her flight from Amsterdam.

She wrote: "Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today. May God cover you & all that is connected to you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination. "

Saying the venue was "willing to go past 11pm", she pointed the finger at unidentified figures who she said had "succeeded at their plan to not let me get on that stage tonight" and that a new date for the show would be announced on Sunday.

"One July option & one June option is currently being discussed," she tweeted. "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 for this show. Promise."

Minaj said she would continue with her scheduled shows, including in Birmingham on Sunday and a second night at the Co-op Live Arena on Thursday.

In separate posts, she told fans she would be on her hotel balcony and thanked those who came along before asking them to be quiet at 2am.

Major Robert van Kapel, from the Royal Netherlands military police, told Sky News at around 9.15pm that the woman had been released around 20 minutes ago from the Royal Marshal’s Office at Schiphol Airport.

"I don’t know which plane she will take, which destination, of course, privacy. It’s not our concern," he also said.

"But I can say that 20 minutes ago she’s left. So probably she’s on her way to her next destination."

When asked if they knew the woman was a rap artist, he responded: "Of course, we never confirm the identity of people we have in custody, suspects.

"But we have seen, of course, social media, and the only thing we have to do is do a thorough investigation. And that’s what we did and there’s no reason to (have her) any longer in custody. She can go wherever she has to go."

Earlier in the day, Minaj livestreamed being arrested as well as claiming that police found drugs in her luggage after her items were checked by customs.

She wrote that "they found weed" and her security "already advised them" that items belong to them, and not her.

Trinidad-born Minaj, known for the songs Starships, Super Bass and Anaconda, recently featured on the Barbie soundtrack and was nominated for a Grammy.

Minaj has been contacted for comment.

Source: Press Association