Nicki Minaj arrested at Amsterdam airport for alleged drug possession

Nicki Minaj was arrested by police officers at an airport in the Netherlands, according to posts she shared on social media.  

The “Barbie World” rapper, whose full name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, livestreamed the incident on her Instagram account, recording a law enforcement deputy notifying her that she was “under arrest” for “carrying drugs” and asking her to get into a van he said would take her to the police station.

Reports do not indicate if she has been charged with a crime, but Dutch police said Minaj was fined and allowed to continue her journey, the BBC reports.

In her footage, which was re-posted on X (formerly Twitter) by a fan account, Minaj repeatedly denies the allegations and demands a lawyer before ultimately getting into the van. 

"Now they said I have to go 5 mins away to make a statement about my security to the police precinct," she wrote on X.

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A representative for Minaj did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.

A spokesperson for Dutch police told NBC News, “We can confirm that we have arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport because of possession of soft drugs."

Dutch military police stated that travelers are prohibited from taking drugs outside the Netherlands, reports The Guardian.

The 41-year-old rapper was traveling to Manchester, England, for her concert at the Co-op Live arena as part of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour. An additional video posted on the Grammy winner’s Instagram account shows her speaking to an unidentified man, who informs her that her luggage needs to be searched because, he said, he "doesn’t believe you don’t have more with you than what you said.”

In a series of X posts, Minaj claimed that officers “took my luggage w/out consent” and were “trying to keep me from MANCHESTER.” She added, “This is Amsterdam btw, where weed is legal.”

She also alleged that the arrest was a way to derail her tour, writing, “They’re being paid big money to try to sabotage my tour b/c soooooo many ppl are mad that it’s this successful & they can’t eat off me. They got caught stealing money from my travel/jets. Got fired. Got mad. Etc.”

In a statement obtained by the Manchester Evening News, Live Nation announced that Minaj's show at the Co-op Live has been "postponed" in the wake of her arrest.

"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. We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused. More information will be available at your point of purchase."

Early Sunday morning, the rapper apologized for postponing the U.K. show to a large crowd of fans outside her hotel in Manchester.

“I love you and I’m so sorry this happened tonight,” Minaj said in a video posted on social media.

She later posted a statement on X, describing her experience. "Barbz, I’m @ the stock exchange hotel in #Manchester," she wrote. "I arrived a little over an hour ago. After sitting in a jail cell for 5-6 hours, my plane still didn’t take off for another 20 mins once I boarded."

Minaj continued, "So they succeeded at their plan to not let me get on that stage tonight. I succeeded @ getting to the root of it all by recording them & posting everything in real time. I have sooooooooo much video evidence. You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. I’ll have the lawyers & GOD take it from here tho. Please, please, please accept my deepest & most sincere apologies.
They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today, but this, too, shall pass."

This story has been updated with Minaj's apology to her fans.