Despite not making an appearance at either the MTV VMAs or the Met Gala, Nicki Minaj has been ensuring that her name stays in the news headlines.
The "Super Bass" rapper engaged in lengthy discussions with fans on Twitter at the start of the week, shocking the internet by revealing that she doesn't believe in the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine.
But now, fans on Twitter are speculating that Minaj purposefully directed focus to her anti-vax beliefs in order to take attention away from the sentencing of her husband, Kenneth Petty. The famous rapper has previously been criticized for continuing to support Petty, who is a registered sex offender and has spent time in prison for both attempted statutory rape and first-degree manslaughter.
Most recently, Petty was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in California after relocating to the state from New York. PEOPLE Magazine has revealed that Petty pled guilty to the charges on Thursday and now faces a potential 10 years behind bars.
One fan posted a screenshot of an article detailing Petty's recent plea on Twitter, and captioned it, "The real reason Nicki Minaj started talking about the vaccinations so this wouldn't be the headline today...", while another expressed disappointment in the "Chun-Li" rapper's choice of spouse, writing, "I had to mute her.. she is unraveling. She had a choice and she picked this man".
Another user commented on the news, writing, "How you gonna marry a sex offender then get upset when he gets in trouble for sex offender s***???" and another fan tweeted, "She literally made up an outrageous health story potentially affecting the health of millions so she can hide shame...it was all planned".
Minaj has more recently been engaging in a Twitter back-and-forth with a number of public figures, as well as fan accounts. In response to the British television presenter Piers Morgan's accusation that the star has been "peddling lies that will cost lives", Minaj tweeted, "Thanks Pierce. Love the accent. I'd love to come chat. Scones. Tea. Clown nose & big red shoes for you. Lmk babe".
She also implied that some of her tweets should be taken as jokes while responding to the BBC News reporter Laura Kuenessberg. In reply to Kuenessberg's tweet, "2021 everyone..." in reference to Minaj's highly-publicized Twitter spree, the rapper wrote, "Yes 2021 when jack a**es hang on to my every tweet but can't decipher sarcasm & humor, and can't read. Go away dumbo".