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Breanna Robinson and Sinead Butler

Nicki Minaj’s bizarre ‘swollen testicle’ excuse for not taking the Covid vaccine has become an instant meme

Nicki Minaj gets backlash over vaccine post on Twitter

(Picture: Getty Images for Marc Jacobs)

Thanks to Twitter, we all now know that rapper Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend, Michael apparently cancelled his wedding because his ‘testicles were swollen’ - but why did we need to know this?

It's supposed to do with taking the Covid vaccine...

Rather than attending the Met Gala event on Monday, Minaj tweeted: “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it and became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding.”

So what have someone's swollen testicles got to do with the Covid vaccine?

Well, it all started when Minaj said she wouldn’t attend the Met Gala because of its Covid-19 vaccination requirement - and social media is bubbling over with criticism.

On Monday, Minaj took to her Twitter to say she wanted to do “more research” before she considered getting a dose of the vaccine.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter ‘The Viral Democracy’

“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,” Minaj wrote.

She also noted that she wants her fans to be safe and wear a mask that “grips your head and face.”

People in the comments could quite believe Minaj's anecdote about her cousin's friend's "swollen testicles” and some believed that he may have another medical problem not related to the Covid vaccine... an STD.

Medical experts even tweeted at the rapper to say that this ailment is not caused by the Covid vaccine.

While of course, Twitter quickly turned Minaj’s anecdote into an instant meme.

Elsewhere, the story soon hit the airwaves, and in a crossover that we never thought we would ever see, Tucker Carlson even discussed the story on his show. Unsurprisingly - as someone who has urged people to question the Covid vaccine - Carlson defended Nicki.

Meanwhile, other fans were taken aback by Minaj’s sentiments, urging her to “trust the scientists” that have worked extremely hard to begin to put an end to the pandemic.

“The vaccine is safe. Over 170 million people have gotten it and are fine. Vaccines do not have long-term side effects. If nothing has happened yet, nothing will. Please stop researching and listen to the actual professionals and encourage your fans to get vaxxed. Save some lives, “someone wrote.

“So it’s wrong for her to even read up on the 3 or 4 choices of vaccine before getting it? Just walk blindly in and just take whichever one the doctor or clinic decides. Doctors support all of the options, so this “you can’t research” is dumb. Some people rather make [their] own choice,” another added.

Someone else, who is seemingly a fan of Minaj, said, “Nicki, I love you to death, but you were wrong. The vaccine absolutely significantly reduces the chances of hospitalization and serious illness. Please, I beg, let’s stay educated on this topic and trust the scientists and doctor[s] who have worked tirelessly to help us end this. Lly,” someone wrote.

Check out some other amusing responses to Minaj’s post below.

According to FirstPost, the Met Gala’s Covid-19 precautions include a smaller guest list, social distancing (mostly at dinner tables), wearing masks except when eating, as well as guests showing proof of vaccination and a negative Covid test result.

Despite Minaj’s hesitancy, she later tweeted she would recommend that people get the vaccine and that she will probably end up getting vaccinated too due to going on tour.

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