Nicki Minaj praises Manchester fans after her arrest

Nicki Minaj has saluted her fans for being a “class act” for understanding that her gig in Manchester had to be rescheduled after her arrest in the Netherlands.

The rapper and singer said she spent about six hours in custody at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Saturday before she was allowed to hop on a plane to the UK for her gig at Co-op Live Arena.

Dutch police said a woman aged 41 was arrested on Saturday after allegedly trying to take “soft drugs" through Schiphol Airport to another country.

They announced around 9pm that they had released the suspect and she can now move on after paying a fine.

Fans were let into the venue around 7pm on that same day, before the promoter Live Nation announced at 9:40pm that the show was being postponed.

Minaj wrote on X: “Manchester I appreciate you. Class act. Give me until tomorrow for the update on our new date please.

“It will be sometime in June or July like I mentioned last night.”

#Manchester I appreciate you. Class act. Give me until tmrw for the update on our new date plz. It will be sometime in June or July like I mentioned last night. #GagCityManchester and like I also mentioned, I’ll be doing an added surprise bonus for you guys as well.

To the…

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 26, 2024

She also said that she’d be doing “an added surprise bonus” for her Manchester fans, and that she was “looking forward” to seeing them.

Minaj had earlier written on Sunday that she had arrived at her hotel after spending “5-6 hours” in a cell.

A statement from Live Nation said on Saturday: "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."

Minaj will be playing headline show at Dublin’s Malahide Castle on Saturday July 6 as part of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.