A timeline of Nicki Minaj's week of online feuds with world leaders, journalists, and fans over her tweet about a vaccine causing swollen testicles

• Nicki Minaj is waging an international internet war.
• It all started when she said she wouldn't attend the Met Gala because of vaccine requirements.
• Since then she has been feuding with commentators, journalists, and government officials.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Monday September 13, rapper Nicki Minaj tweeted to her 22.7 million followers that she wouldn't be attending this year's Met Gala because of the event's COVID-19 vaccine requirements. This set off a chain of events leading to Minaj feuding online with world leaders, commentators, and journalists ever since.

Here's a timeline of how the chaos unfolded.

On Monday, Nicki Minaj said she needed to do more 'research' before getting vaccinated.

Minaj tweeted that Met Gala attendees needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which was why she wasn't going to be present. The Met's visitor guidelines, which attendees had to follow, state all visitors have to provide proof of vaccination.

"If I get vaccinated it won't for the Met," she said. "It'll be once I feel I've done enough research. I'm working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one."

She followed it up with a story about her cousin's friend in Trinidad, who she said "became impotent" after he received the vaccine.

"His testicles became swollen," she said. "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."

The CDC has stated there is no evidence the vaccine causes infertility in men or women. Several doctors have also debunked the claim.

Minaj added she would probably end up getting the vaccine because she will be going on tour, then asked her followers to take part in a poll about which vaccine provider they would recommend: Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or "other." All available authorized vaccines are safe and effective in reducing severe illness, the CDC states.

The same day, Minaj also tweeted that she was generally avoiding events because she has a new baby.

"Not risking his health to be seen," she said.

Minaj started hitting back at journalists who criticized her views.

"Was this the research?" HuffPost journalist Philip Lewis tweeted in response to Minaj's poll, prompting Minaj to call him a "clown."

On Tuesday, Minaj shared a video posted by MSNBC weeknight political commentary show "The ReidOut" where political commentator and host Joy-Ann Reid responded to her tweets.

"For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives," Reid said. "As a fan, I am so sad that you did that."

Minaj then dug up an old controversy of Reid's where she was accused of writing homophobic blog posts.

-Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 14, 2021

Minaj accused Reid and several news outlets of misquoting her and misinterpreting what she had said.

"3 lies in a row from huge news platforms," she said alongside screenshots of articles from USA Today, The Daily Beast, and Yahoo! News. "I cited my young child as why I didn't want to travel. But notice how NONE of them mentioned that? Ask yourself why that was."

She also told Daily Mail columnist and TV personality Meghan McCain - who shared her tweet saying "that's entirely enough internet for today" - to "eat shit."

Minaj then turned her attention to British politicians and journalists.

On Tuesday evening, England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, referenced Minaj's vaccine tweets in a coronavirus briefing.

"In my view, they should be ashamed," he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson added that he was "not familiar" with Minaj's work, and said she should speak with GP Nikki Kanani "who will tell you vaccines are wonderful and everyone should get one."

Minaj tweeted a clip of the briefing, saying, "I love him even tho I guess this was a diss? The accent ugh! Yassss boo!!!"

-Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 14, 2021

Minaj then shared a voice note which she said was addressed to the prime minister.

"Yes, hello Prime Minister, Boris, it's Nicki Minaj," she said in a faux British accent. "I was just calling to tell you that you were so amazing on the news this morning. And I'm actually British. I was born there."

She added that she went to Oxford University and "I went to school with Margaret Thatcher. And she told me so many nice things about you," she continued. "I'd love to send you my portfolio of my work, since you don't know much about me, I'm a big, big star in the United States."

Minaj was born in the district of Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, and was raised in Queens in New York.

-Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 14, 2021

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg retweeted the interaction with the caption "2021 everyone ..."

"Yes 2021 when jack asses hang on to my every tweet but can't decipher sarcasm & humor, and can't read," Minaj responded. "Go away dumbo."

Minaj then got into a Twitter argument with controversial television personality Piers Morgan, who called her "ghastly." He also accused Minaj of ignoring his children at an event.

"Stop fkng lying," Minaj replied. "I never turn down pics with kids. If a middle person told you that, they were out of line. don't blame me you stupid piece of shit."

Minaj found an unlikely ally in Tucker Carlson.

Tucker Carlson defended Minaj on his weeknight Fox News show on Wednesday. He accused Democrats of "bullying" Minaj about her vaccine beliefs and asked her cousin's friend to come forward for an interview.

"We haven't been able to figure out whether this show is broadcast in Trinidad," Carlson said. "But if Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend is watching, or his former fiancée is watching, we want to hear your story. We'll come to Port of Spain to see you. Let us know."

Minaj shared a video of Carlson's segment with a target emoji, insinuating she agreed with him.

Host of "The Late Show" Stephen Colbert then poked fun at Minaj's story about her cousin's friend by parodying her 2011 hit "Super Bass," renaming it "Super Balls." He said in his monologue on Wednesday that Carlson had only supported Minaj because he is "desperate for any proof that the vaccine is not safe."

-Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 15, 2021

All the furor secured Minaj an invitation to speak with a White House official.

On Wednesday, Minaj said she had been invited to the White House.

"The White House has invited me & I think it's a step in the right direction," she said. "Yes, I'm going. I'll be dressed in all pink like 'Legally Blonde' so they know I mean business. I'll ask questions on behalf of the ppl who have been made fun of for simply being human."

A White House spokesperson told Bloomberg News that the rapper was actually offered a call with a doctor to answer her questions.

-Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) September 15, 2021

Trinidad and Tobago's health minister debunked Minaj's story

Trinidad and Tobago's health minister Terrence Deyalsingh said in a press conference on Wednesday that there was no evidence of Minaj's claims about her cousin's friend's testicles.

"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," he said. "Unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim."

Minaj has not yet responded to Deyalsingh. She did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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