Emmys 2021: Nicki Minaj’s vaccine controversy mocked by Cedric the Entertainer

‘I did not have a reaction like Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend, okay?’ host joked

Nicki Minaj’s controversial vaccine comments were dragged on-stage at the Emmy Awards this year by the ceremony’s host, Cedric The Entertainer.

The comedian made light of Minaj’s inflammatory and unsubstantiated tweet about her cousin’s friend in Trinidad, who allegedly experienced swollen testicles after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

“I got vaxxed,” Cedric revealed, adding: “I did not have a reaction like Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend, okay?”

He continued: “I got Pfizer, you know what I’m saying? Because I’m bougie. That’s the Neiman Marcus of vaccines.”

The host then went on to compare the other approved vaccines to American department stores, saying, “Moderna, that’s Macy’s. Johnson & Johnson, that’s TJ Maxx.”

Earlier this month, Minaj tweeted that she wouldn’t be attending the Met Gala over its mandatory vaccine requirement, before sharing the baseless anecdote about her cousin’s friend.

She wrote: “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cause his friend got it and became impotent. His testicles became swollen.”

Health officials in Trinidad have since confirmed there is no truth to the “Super Bass” singer’s claims.

“As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad… and none that we know of anywhere in the world,” the country’s health minister Terrence Deyalsingh said.

The White House also offered to call Minaj up to answer any questions she might have about the vaccines approved for use in the United States, after she revealed she was not vaccinated and “doing her own research”.

However, a spokesperson was quick to clarify that the singer had not been invited to the White House after she announced she would be wear “all pink like in “Legally Blonde ” for her visit and ask questions on behalf of those “who have been made fun of for simply being human”.

Impotence is not listed as a potential side-effect by the NHS or the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites, and there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine causes fertility problems.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson and Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, responded to the singer a Covid press conference on14 September. Whitty said Minaj should be “ashamed” for perpetuating untruths about the vaccines among her social media followers.

He continued, “There are a number of myths that fly around ... some of which are just clearly ridiculous and some of which are clearly designed just to scare,” he said.

“That happens to be one of them. That is untrue.”