Nicki Minaj’s Co-op Live Arena show in Manchester has been postponed following her arrest in Amsterdam, leaving fans furious after they waited for hours and were allowed into the venue before tonight’s show was cancelled last minute.
Hundreds of fans queueing outside the arena were filmed chanting ‘Free Nicki Minaj’ as they held onto hope that the star would be released from custody in the Netherlands and make it to the UK in time to perform.
The singer, who was arrested on suspicion of exporting ‘soft drugs’, was fined and eventually allowed to go free by police shortly before 9pm – hours after she was originally due to take to the stage.
Footage from inside Co-op Live, which is the UK’s biggest indoor arena with a capacity of 23,500, showed fans waiting patiently for the star to arrive – despite seemingly receiving no updates on her whereabouts.
The American singer, 41, known for the songs Starships, Super Bass and Anaconda, was due to perform a sold-out show at Co-op Live on Saturday evening as part of her Pink Friday World Tour.
She had been due to take to the stage at 6.30pm, but this was pushed back to 7pm. Ticketholders were told to head into the arena before news emerged that the show had been called off.
Fans who had been waiting patiently for hours began booing and shouting in disbelief when an announcement was made telling them the news, with organisers saying they were ‘deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused’.
Nicki Minaj filmed herself seemingly getting arrested for allegedly ‘carrying drugs’ while traveling from Amsterdam to Manchester for her next show
Hundreds of fans queueing outside Manchester’s Co-op Live arena were filmed this evening chanting ‘Free Nicki Minaj’
Footage from inside the venue, which has a capacity of 23,500, showed fans waiting patiently for the star to arrive
A statement from Amsterdam’s Royal Military Constabulary read: ‘We have just released a 41-year-old American woman who we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol on suspicion of exporting soft drugs.
‘After consultation with the Public Prosecution Service, the suspect was fined and can continue her journey.’
Speaking to Sky News at around 9.15pm, Major Robert van Kapel of the military police said that she had been released from their custody around 20 minutes earlier.
He added that he believed she had set off on her onward journey, though would not disclose further details.
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Nicki for comment.
Super fan Connor Wynne told Sky that he had been queueing since before 8am this morning to get a front row position for the show.
He said he and his friends were holding out hope of seeing the star after they ‘heard a helicopter go over’.
But soon after, fans hopes of seeing their favourite singer were dashed when organisers announced the show was being postponed.
‘Nicki Minaj’s scheduled performance at Manchester’s Co-op Live on Saturday 25th May has been postponed,’ a statement online said.
‘Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance which will be announced ASAP.
‘Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, the events of today have made it impossible.
It added: ‘We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused. More information will be available at your point of purchase.’
Minaj went silent on social media at around 4pm this evening following a series of social media posts on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram.
In them, she said that police had told her they found drugs in her luggage after items were checked by customs.
She wrote that ‘they found weed’ and her security ‘already advised them’ that items belong to them, and not her.
Minaj also claimed that her bags had been taken by ‘customs’, with someone who looked like he worked for Schiphol Airport saying that the fact she filmed security checks prompted her luggage to be searched again, in a video shared on Instagram.
She also alleged: ‘They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show. They took my bags before I could see them. Put it on the plane. Now saying they’re waiting on customs.’
Minaj also live-streamed what appeared to be a conversation with an officer, who asked her to get into a van so she could go to a police station.
‘I’m not carrying drugs, I’m not going in there,’ she says in the clip.
She then asks the officer if she is ‘under arrest’ to which the the Dutch policeman replies ‘yes’.
Minaj is told by another policeman that she will get a ‘lawyer’ and to stop filming, and then gets inside the van.
Promoters Live Nation and the venue Co-op Live have been contacted for comment.
Co-op Live was plagued by issues before opening earlier this month.
The venue postponed its first official show several times after safety concerns with the performer, US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, moving his gig to rival AO Arena over the delays.
However, the UK’s biggest arena had live music on May 14, when British rock band Elbow took to the stage.
Nicki Minaj has been arrested in the Netherlands hours before she was due to fly to the UK to perform a concert.
The 41-year-old American singer, known for the songs Starships, Super Bass and Anaconda, was due to perform at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on Saturday evening as part of her Pink Friday World Tour.
A statement to the PA news agency from the National Police Corps said a woman, 41, was arrested after allegedly trying to take soft drugs from Schiphol Airport to another country.
They confirmed at around 7.30pm that she remains under arrest and the force is still investigating.
Minaj’s show at Co-op Live was originally set to have doors open at 6.30pm but this was changed to 7pm.
In a series of social media posts on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram, Minaj claimed that police said they found drugs in her luggage after items were checked by customs.
She wrote that ‘they found weed’ and her security ‘already advised them’ that items belong to them, and not her.
Minaj also claimed that her bags had been taken by ‘customs’, with someone who looked like he worked for Schiphol Airport saying that the fact she filmed security checks prompted her luggage to be searched again, in a video shared on Instagram.
She also alleged: ‘They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show. They took my bags before I could see them. Put it on the plane. Now saying they’re waiting on customs.’
Minaj also live-streamed what appeared to be a conversation with an officer, who asked her to get into a van so she could go to a police station.
‘I’m not carrying drugs, I’m not going in there,’ she says in the clip.
She then asks the officer if she is ‘under arrest’ to which the the Dutch policeman replies ‘yes’.
Minaj is told by another policeman that she will get a ‘lawyer’ and to stop filming, and then gets inside the van.
Promoters Live Nation and the venue Co-op Live have been contacted for comment.
Co-op Live was plagued by issues before opening earlier this month.
The venue postponed its first official show several times after safety concerns with the performer, US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, moving his gig to rival AO Arena over the delays.
However, the UK’s biggest arena had live music on May 14, when British rock band Elbow took to the stage.
Nicki Minaj’s Manchester show has reportedly been thrown into chaos after she filmed herself seemingly getting arrested for allegedly ‘carrying drugs’.
The rapper appeared to have been stopped while traveling from Amsterdam to Manchester for her next Pink Friday 2 Tour show.
Despite vehemently denying that she was carrying any drugs, the 41-year-old star was told that she needed to go to the police station in footage captured during an Instagram Live.
In the recording, a man explained to her that she ‘would get a lawyer at the office’ and they would go ‘as fast as possible.’
During the Instagram Live, the Anaconda hitmaker said she was told ‘to get into this [police] van and go into the precinct with no lawyer present.’
She further alleged that someone working for airport security requested she made a ‘statement with no lawyer present’ after finding ‘pre-rolls’ in ‘bags that they were not authorized to take.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Minaj’s representative for confirmation on if she was actually arrested, but has not heard back.
It is currently unclear if she was booked at a police station.
Before the alleged arrest, Minaj shared a series of posts on X (previously known as Twitter), about her bags getting pulled for a thorough search at the airport.
‘They’ve been trying everything they possibly can to TRY to stop this tour,’ she wrote in one tweet, before theorizing that they were trying to ‘plant things’ in her luggage.
Additionally, she shared footage on her Instagram of a man telling her that police needed to take a closer look at her luggage.
In the clip, an airline crew member told her that a ‘police officer told’ him that they had ‘to offload all the luggage and to search everything.’
‘I’m so sorry to say that,’ he continued.
She, then, asked: ‘But wasn’t that what you planned on doing from the get-go? Why didn’t you guys search it before it went on the plane?’
‘They did just a random quick check, but now they want to open it,’ he insisted.
After she asked why, he said: ‘First of all, because you filmed him… [and] … he doesn’t believe you that you don’t have more with you than you say.’
Despite vehemently denying that she was carrying any drugs, the 41-year-old rapper was told that she needed to go to the police station in footage captured during an Instagram Live
In the recording, a man explained to her that she ‘would get a lawyer at the office’ and they would go ‘as fast as possible’
Before the alleged arrest, Minaj shared a series of posts on X (previously known as Twitter ), about her bags getting pulled for a thorough search at the airport
‘No, he asked me ‘Do I have any more in those purses’ and I said, ‘No,’ and I asked him where are my bags,’ the rapper said. ‘They took my bags and put them on the plane before I could know what bags are on the plane.’
The airline crew member simply said he was ‘so sorry for that.’
‘Okay, of course,’ she said before the video ended.
In Minaj’s caption, she wrote ‘they took my bags before I could see them’ then ‘put it on the plane.’
‘This is what it looks like when ppl are paid big money to try to sabotage a tour after all else failed. Everything they’ve done is illegal,’ she wrote.
‘They’ve been trying everything they possibly can to TRY to stop this tour,’ she wrote in one tweet, before theorizing that they were trying to ‘plant things’ in her luggage
Minaj also tweeted that her ‘filming every single thing made’ airline employees and police ‘mad’
The mother-of-one is currently on her Pink Friday 2 World Tour
Minaj’s most recent tweet, at the time of publication, claimed that she was told that she had five minutes ‘to make a statement about’ her ‘security to the police precinct.’
Earlier, she had noted on X that ‘they said they found weed & that another group of ppl have to come here to weigh the pre-rolls.’
‘Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him. Oh yea & the pilot wants me to take my ig [Instagram] post down,’ she wrote.
In another X post, she pointed out that marijuana is legal in Amsterdam.
Minaj is is currently on her Pink Friday 2 World Tour and, next, slated to perform in Manchester, England on Saturday.