RAP star NickiĀ Minaj has found herself in a social media storm with Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty, Piers Morgan and Laura Kuenssberg.
The American musician has been accused of spreading CovidĀ misinformation, with her claimsĀ debunked by health experts.
TheĀ row was sparked by claims from the singer thatĀ her cousin was no longer receiving the Covid vaccine after it led to his friend becoming impotent. Experts have suggested it may be a sexually transmitted disease, as opposed to the Covid-19 vaccine, which is causing this.
Tweeting to her 22.6 million Twitter followers, the rapper said: āMy cousin in Trinidad wonāt get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen.
READ MORE:Ā Nicki Minaj brands BBC's Laura Kuenssberg 'dumbo' amid Twitter storm
āHis friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure youāre comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.ā
The tweet was met with a massive backlash around the world, with England's chief medical officer responding.
Asked about the claim, which received more than 100,000 likes, at Tuesdayās Downing Street press conference, Professor Chris Whitty said: āThere are a number of myths that fly around ā¦ some of which are just clearly ridiculous and some of which are clearly designed just to scare.
āThat happens to be one of them. That is untrue.ā
Whitty added: āIf you think about where we are overall ā¦ the great majority of people are getting vaccinated.
"So the great majority [of] people are ignoring these myths. And, if you talk about people in their 50s and 60s and 70s, weāre talking about over 90% of people getting vaccinated. And very few people actually are actively, in a sense, in the anti-vax group.
āThere are a group of people whoāve got strange beliefs and ā¦ fine. And they make their own choices and, in a sense, also fine. People are adults who are allowed to make their own choices; however strange.
āBut there are also people who go around trying to discourage other people from taking a vaccine, which could be life-saving or preventing them from having life-changing injuries.
"And many of those people, I regret to say, I think they know that they are peddling untruths. But they still do it. In my view, they should be ashamed.ā
Boris Johnson chimed in adding he was not familiar with Minajās work, and said he was more familiar with the work of GP Nikki Kanani "who will tell you vaccines are wonderful and everyone should get oneā.
In a surprise turn, Minaj saw the conferenceĀ and replied on her Twitter account with a voice clip in anĀ RP English accent. She joked she was actually English, went to Oxford and met Margaret Thatcher who said āso many nice thingsā about the Prime Minister.
š¬š§ š¬š§š¬š§š¬š§š¬š§š¬š§š¬š§ send this to the prime minister & let him know they lied on me. I forgive him. No one else. Only him. š pic.twitter.com/ZmJ2sST8Es
ā Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 14, 2021
Captioned with Union flags and saying she āforgivesā Johnson, she added: '"Yes, hello Prime Minister, Boris, it's Nicki Minaj.
āI was just calling to tell you that you were so amazing on the news this morning. And I'm actually British. I was born there. I went to university there. I went to Oxford.
"I went to school with Margaret Thatcher. And she told me so many nice things about you. I'd love to send you my portfolio of my work, since you don't know much about me, I'm a big, big star in the United States."
But the former American Idol host wasnāt quite done responding to the outrage as she then got caught in an argument with English presenter Piers Morgan.
Morgan called her "one of the rudest little madams Iāve ever met," adding her "lies will cost lives".
Sir Iāve never met you. I knowā¦ we all look alike. āRudest little madamā. I like it. Has a special ring to it. Thanks Pierce. Love the accent. Iād love to come chat. Scones. Tea. Clown nose & big red shoes for you. Lmk babe šš https://t.co/9Evnhnuj9l
ā Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 14, 2021
Minaj responded: āSir Iāve never met you. I know ā¦ we all look alike. 'Rudest little madam'. I like it. Has a special ring to it.
"Thanks Pierce [sic]. Love the accent. Iād love to come chat. Scones. Tea. Clown nose & big red shoes for you. Lmk [let me know]Ā babeā
Morgan then went on to accuse Minaj of refusing to say hello to his three young sons during a performance on Americaās Got Talent.
This was refuted by Minaj. She then requested to go on an Instagram live with Morgan but he has so far not taken up the offer.
The Trinidad-born rapper later suggested her original post was sarcasm, hitting back at the BBCās Keunssberg who tweeted a clip of Professor Whitty responding to Minajās claims where Keunsberg said ā2021 everyoneā.
Minaj replied: āYes 2021 when jack asses hang on to my every tweet but canāt decipher sarcasm & humor, and canāt read. Go away dumbo.ā
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Americaās top epidemiologist was asked about the veracity of the claim but shot it down.
Asked by CNN journalist Jake Tapper on whether the Covid vaccine can cause reproductive issues in men or women, Dr Anthony Fauci said: āThe answer to that, Jake, is a resounding no,ā he said.
āThereās no evidence that it happens, nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen.
āSo the answer to your question is no.ā
The pop star has not been vaccinated against coronavirus but added she suspects she will eventually get the jag.
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