Nicki Minaj apologizes to fans as Co-op Live show postponed at last minute after star's arrest | Ents & Arts News

The American singer and rapper was released shortly before 9 p.m. on Saturday, but she will have to pay an undisclosed fine for “illegal export of soft drugs from the Netherlands to another country”, Dutch police told Sky News.

Nicki Minaj's concert at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena, attended by thousands of fans, was postponed at the last minute following her arrest hours earlier in the Netherlands.

The 41-year-old American singer and rapper was arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on suspicion of possession of soft drugs.

She later apologized to fans after finally landing in Manchester late on Saturday night.

She posted on X: “Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today. May God cover you and all that concerns you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination.

“Please, please accept my deepest and most sincere apologies.”

What's happening at Co-op Live in Manchester?

Fans were allowed to enter the indoor venue on Saturday evening despite the star's detention.

A message on the arena's

Minaj was later released shortly before 9 p.m., but she will have to pay an undisclosed fine for “illegally exporting soft drugs from the Netherlands to another country”, Dutch police told Sky News.

Despite her release, she was unable to make it to Manchester in time. However, in the early hours of Sunday, Minaj posted a live stream on Instagram from central Manchester, showing crowds of fans on the street below.

The concert will be moved to a later date with a statement from promoters Live Nation saying: “Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance which will be announced as soon as possible.”

“Despite Nicki's best efforts to explore every possible avenue for tonight's show to take place, today's events have made this impossible. We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused.”

In a series of publications on social networks X and Instagram, Minaj Earlier, police said they found drugs in his luggage after the items were checked by customs.

She wrote on X that “they said they found weed.” She also claimed “that they took my luggage without my consent” and “that they were trying to prevent me from entering MANCHESTER”.

The messages also included one in which she wrote: “Actually, it's Amsterdam, where weed is legal.” »

The star, whose hit songs include Starships, Super Bass and Anaconda, also filmed what appeared to be an airport official asking her to check her bags.

Minaj later wrote, “It's a 45 minute to an hour flight. So they're probably trying to stall for about 4 hours.”

And she added: “Now they said I had to go 5 minutes away to make a statement about my safety at the police station.”

Asked about Minaj, Robert van Kapel, a military police spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, earlier told Sky News' US partner network NBC News: “We can confirm that we have arrested an American woman from 41 years at Schiphol Airport due to possession of soft drugs.

Spectators 'sob' after announcement

Fans of the singer expressed their dismay at the decision to postpone the concert.

“Hardcore Nicki fan” Charu, who traveled from Liverpool for the show, said the evening was “ridiculously disappointing”.

“My sister and I have been looking forward to this for months. I'm taking my medical exams and I had been working all day and I was so looking forward to it,” they said.

“People around us were saying they came from Ireland and Scotland and paid for a night's hotel in Manchester, which isn't cheap.

“So the fact that the tickets are being refunded or are still valid for another concert doesn't really put into perspective the time and money we all spent on this evening.”

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They added: “His team would surely have known that tonight's concert was not going to be possible, but waiting until 9:30 p.m. to let us know is a lack of respect for our time and effort.”

Charu said concertgoers were “sobbing” after the announcement and would not expect to attend the rescheduled concert.

“Every time she postpones it, there's no guarantee that people will be able to take time off work, be able to afford trains, flights, hotels to be able to get to the show. It's just very disappointing and upsetting.”

As part of her Pink Friday 2 world tour, Minaj is due to perform in Birmingham on Sunday, followed by a concert at London's O2 Arena next Tuesday.

On Wednesday, she is due to play in Glasgow, followed by a concert on Thursday, also at Co-op Live in Manchester.

The beleaguered £365 million arena – the UK's largest indoor entertainment venue – opened its doors earlier this month after being plagued by a series of problems.

There were weeks of setbacks, cancellations and postponements, before live music finally resumed there on May 14 when Manchester rock band Elbow took to the stage.

The problems included part of the building's ventilation and air conditioning system falling from the ceiling to the floor during a sound check in early May.

The 23,500-capacity venue was originally scheduled to open fully with two stand-up shows from Peter Kay on April 23 and 24, but those dates were pushed back when problems arose during a test event run by Ricky Astley.

The arena then scheduled American rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie to open the arena on May 1, but it was canceled a little over an hour before its performance and after the doors opened to the fans – because the ventilation system came loose.

The ventilation problem led to the postponement of planned performances by US pop star Olivia Rodrigo and British band Keane, while a series of Take That shows were moved to Manchester's AO Arena.