Nicki Minaj baffled fans by asking for a moment of silence for Princess Diana during a show in Birmingham, who she called a “dear friend”.
At the first UK date of her ‘Pink Friday 2’ world tour on Sunday (May 26), Minaj handed the mic to various fans in the crowd to tell her where they came from. One group of fans had come from Wales, which led her to launch into the tribute, made all the more unexpected by the fact that Minaj was only 14 years old when the Princess of Wales was killed in a car accident in 1997.
“Wales,” she said, putting on an upper-class English accent. “It always reminds me of a dear friend of mine, well she’s not here anymore, but the Princess of Wales.”
The crowd applauded, to which she added: “Let’s have a moment of silence.”
The moment generated plenty of bemused reactions on social media. “Nicki Minaj calling Princess Diana “a dear friend of mine” and holding a moments silence for her is so unserious,” one X/Twitter user wrote.
“absolutely obsessed with this,” another wrote.
Nicki Minaj calling Princess Diana “a dear friend of mine” and holding a moments silence for her is so unserious pic.twitter.com/EvklDW7LHq
— Fiona Small (@FionaSmall) May 27, 2024
Nahhhhhhhhh am fkn Howlin https://t.co/thLFCmdEFB
— AnnaWanyama (@AnnaMaryyyyyy) May 27, 2024
absolutely obsessed with this https://t.co/VFwjdcer3F
— Ruby Naldrett (@rubynaldrett) May 27, 2024
Nicki Minaj holding a minute’s silence for Princess Diana is not what I ever expected to see in my life but is absolutely essential viewing for us Di fans. Beautiful
pic.twitter.com/Jg6cZymtps
— Shirley Carter’s Pussy (@shirlpuzz) May 27, 2024
Minaj had previously made reference to Princess Diana on a song of the same name, which was released last year as a collaboration with Ice Spice.
Meanwhile, Minaj promised to fire her touring DJ, DJ Boof, if he signs fans’ breasts again, after an image of him doing so emerged online. DJ Boof has not yet responded to Minaj’s comments.
Minaj is set to perform at The O2 in London tonight (May 28) ahead of concerts in Glasgow (29) and Manchester (May 30 and June 3).
The latter date has been rescheduled after Minaj missed her planned gig at the new Co-Op Live arena last Saturday (May 25) due to her being arrested in Amsterdam for “carrying drugs”.
Minaj explained that she was unable to make it to the venue in time because she had spent “5-6 hours” in a Dutch jail cell earlier in the day. She said she believed the authorities had deliberately stopped her from making the show, adding that she would “have the lawyers & GOD take it from here”.
“Please please please accept my deepest & most sincere apologies,” Minaj wrote. “They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today but this too, shall pass.”
Nicki Minaj will headline Wireless Festival 2024 in London’s Finsbury Park this summer.
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