Rapper Nicki Minaj slammed for claiming Covid-19 vaccine causes swollen testicles

Several experts in the medical field have come forth to debunk the the rapper's claim. Photo: AFP

If you are wondering why rapper Nicki Minaj was not present at this year's Met Gala on Sept 13, the answer may come as a surprise. The artiste tweeted on Monday that she would not be attending the fashion event as only those who have been vaccinated for Covid-19 were permitted entry.

Minaj, who has not been vaccinated, stressed that she wasn't necessarily against inoculation, but claimed that she would not do so just for the event.

"They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. If I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now," she tweeted.

Then, she advised her fans to stay vigilant. "In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one."

However, it was her follow-up tweet that got everyone talking ... and scratching their head. Minaj suggested that the vaccine's side effects include swollen testicles and difficulty in achieving erections.

In the tweet, she claimed that her cousin in Trinidad would not get the vaccine as his friend became impotent and his testicles had swelled up.

"His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding," the 38-year-old artiste went on to share. The rapper then told her 22.6 million followers to be sure that they are comfortable with their decision to get vaccinated and not be bullied into taking it.

This claim had social media users enraged by its lack of evidence to support her claims. Joy-Ann Reid, an MSNBC anchor, was among the many angered by Minaj's statement. Reid claimed that whatever Minaj tweeted could discourage others from getting the vaccine.

"For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives, my God sister, you can do better than that," she said on her television show, The ReidOut. "As a fan, as a hip-hop fan, as someone who was your fan, I’m so sad that you did that," she added.

Several experts in the medical field also came forth to debunk the the rapper's claim. Among those were Dr Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent for CNN. "Vaccines causing orchitis or swollen testicles, that's not a thing. That's not something to worry about," he emphasised on CNN's New Day on Sept 14.

The doctor stated that he does not doubt that her cousin's friend was suffering from these medical issues, but added that the Covid-19 vaccine had nothing to do with it.