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National
Elaine McCallig

Nicki Minaj’s ‘swollen testicle’ claims are going up in smoke - but she’s still got some controversial support

Nicki Minaj‘s claims that her cousin’s friend was left impotent after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine are going up in smoke - and she’s now resorting to some rather questionable commentators to back her claims.

The rapper caused a stir on Monday when she alleged that her cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine because his friend’s testicles “became swollen” after receiving the vaccine.

Now, Trinidad and Tobago have dismissed Minaj’s comments, saying there was no evidence of a patient with such side effects. Health minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the Caribbean country had “wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim”.

Deyalsingh joined the long list of politicians and health experts who have shot down Minaj’s tweet. Dr Anthony Fauci, the top Covid advisor in the US, told CNN Minaj “should be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis”, while Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, branded her vaccine claims as “clearly ridiculous”.

But Minaj appears undeterred and is still scrambling to find support - so much so that she even shared a clip from Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, in which he appeared to defend her.

In the clip, Carlson said it’s not the side-effect claim that makes the “political class mad”.

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Carlson then posited that the last part of her tweet - where she told people to “pray on it” - was the real point of contention as “our media and public health officials didn’t like this because they make their livings bullying people, so they couldn’t let it stand.”

Carlson added: “This is a massive threat to the industrial lying machine that controls our national conversation.” (Viewers should bear in mind that just this week, Carlson admitted that he “sometimes lies” on his show, so the things he says are best taken with a pinch of salt).

The controversial conservative commentator Candace Owens also spoke on Carlson’s show and said Minaj had “accidentally stumbled upon the Ministry of Truth” as “there are people controlling what you’re allowed to say”. The Ministry of Truth remark is a reference to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

Minaj later shared a segment of the show along with a target emoji, seemingly pleased with the support Carlson and Owens had given her.

But fans quickly responded to the tweet, with many shocked that she shared something from a “white nationalist”. Meanwhile, another remarked: “No no no she did not just post a video of Tucker Carlson like this holy sh*t this is the bad place.”

Minaj later responded to the criticism from her fans by stating: “Right. I can’t speak to, agree with, even look at someone from a particular political party.”

After all this, US comedian Stephen Colbert couldn’t pass up the opportunity to poke fun at Minaj’s claims, saying on his show: “Of course, your cousin’s friend is a much more trusted source than all of the world’s doctors.”

Prior to last night’s show, Colbert’s team also produced a parody of Minaj’s Superbass song aptly titled Superballs.

Then, addressing the Carlson segment in which Minaj was discussed, Colbert first joked about how Carlson’s show included a graphic that showed it was Minaj’s cousin who suffered from big balls, not her cousin’s friend.

Colbert’s audience laughed and he remarked: “I’m glad to see Fox News is finally coming to terms with some of its dangerous misstatements.

“This time it’s not trivial stuff like ‘was the election stolen’ or ‘should I huff horse medicine’… Carlson has been reporting on Minaj’s tweet because he’s desperate for any proof that the vaccine is not safe.”

Another talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, also spoke about the controversy on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Kimmel said: “I hate to say it but if your testicles swell up that big the question isn’t ‘did you get a vaccine recently’, it’s ‘what have you been doing to your balls?’”

Meanwhile, in another blow to Minaj, a Bloomberg journalist last night debunked the claims that the rapper was invited to the White House.

Minaj had tweeted about the supposed invitation last night, promising to dress in “all pink like Legally Blonde so they know I mean business”.

But Bloomberg White House Correspondent Justin Sink said the offer was instead an invitation for a call with one of their doctors to answer any questions she may have.

Oof.

And the row is still continuing. Some have been supportive of the rapper, whereas others have called her out. As with every disagreement, the Twitter storm has also inspired memes:

It really has been quite the week for Minaj - you could say its all gone a bit balls-up.

Additional reporting by PA.

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