MSNBC host Joy Reid blasted rapper Nicki Minaj after the artist tweeted that she has decided not to get vaccinated despite contracting COVID-19 and advocated against inoculation.
“You have a platform, sister, that is 22 million followers,” Reid said Monday during a discussion on her program about vaccine mandates and misinformation. “I have 2 million followers … you have 22 million followers on Twitter. For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives … my God sister, you could do better than that.”
Reid added Minaj’s massive following stemming from her music career is “a blessing,” telling the hip-hop star that “people listen to you more than they listen to me.”
“For you to use your platform to put people in the position of dying from a disease they don’t have to die from, oh my God,” Reid continued. “As a fan, as a hip-hop fan and as somebody who is your fan, I am so sad that you did that, sister. Oh my God.”
This is what happens when you’re so thirsty to down another black woman (by the request of the white man), that you didn’t bother to read all my tweets. “My God SISTER do better” imagine getting ur dumb ass on tv a min after a tweet to spread a false narrative about a black woman https://t.co/4UviONyTHy
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 14, 2021
Minaj, in a series of tweets earlier on Monday, revealed she contracted the coronavirus while prepping for the MTV Video Music Awards.
“Do u know what it is not to be able to kiss or hold your tiny baby for over a week? A baby who is only used to his mama?” Minaj said in one tweet.
In another widely shared tweet, Minaj said that her cousin’s account of his friend getting vaccinated had also influenced her decision to not get inoculated.
“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 ur decision, not bullied,” she said.
The rapper, who attacked several prominent figures in media who had criticized her tweets, responded to Reid’s comments on Monday evening.