The Queen of Rap or The Queen of Misinformation?

Art+by+Roxanne+Clark

Art by Roxanne Clark

Nicki Minaj fell back, had a baby, you know, and then returned to Twitter.

She recently shared a very intimate tweet with her 22.9 Million followers. By intimate, of course, I mean somewhat violating, misleading, and confusing. Because when has Twitter ever consisted of anything but that?

On September 13th, Nicki Minaj tweeted:

“My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with your decision, not bullied” 

– @NICKIMINAJ 

For complete and utter clarity, the covid-19 vaccine does not cause any known side effects of swelling testicles. Nor does it cause infertility in females. Read the facts.

Her tweets sent the Internet three steps backwards. Anyone can type a 280 character pledge of their beliefs and post it within seconds. But when Nicki Minaj does it, a massive population hears about it. 

Only 39.1% of Trinidadians are fully vaccinated, with no help from Nicki Minaj. 

“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. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one.”

@NICKIMINAJ 

While she does remind her followers to wear a mask, she also notes that she is working on her own research. 

Sure, research is important, but it all depends on where you are getting your information from.

Resources from the CDC are fully available online, but so are social media accounts with the intention of spreading inaccurate and dangerous stories about the vaccine.

Celebrities are just the tip of the iceberg. We must also regulate the platforms they use and the influence they have on our everyday lives.