For those who haven't heard, Nicki Minaj recently made a bizarre claim on Twitter regarding the Covid-19 vaccine. According to her, her cousin's friend received the vaccine on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and became impotent, suffering from swollen testicles.
After everyone from health officials to free media scrambled to try and verify this story, it was finally confirmed to be 100% false. Yet the claim went so viral that Trinidad's own health minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, had to make a press conference to debunk it.
Now, I'm a fan of Nicki Minaj. Not of her music. That stuff isn't my style. But I'm a fan of her dancing. I'm a fan of her giving voluptuous women a place in celebrity fandom. And I'm a fan of her generally.
So when I say this, understand that I'm making a personal sacrifice: We need to cancel her.
For all Richard Dawkins' faults, his remarks on Twitter didn't kill anyone, and never will. For all Harvey Weinstein's abuses, he didn't kill anyone, either. Even Bill Cosby didn't kill anyone.
But Minaj? Her Tweet will KILL. It likely already has killed. It will go on to kill thousands. And no, she doesn't get a free pass because she's black, or even a black sex symbol, because in the end, her bullshit will likely have killed more than Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh and the 9/11 terrorists - combined.
Yes! Cancel her! Because if someone like Richard Dawkins deserves to be cancelled, Minaj deserves to be cancelled. If comparative teddy bears from Minnesota like Garrison Keillor and Al Franken deserve to be cancelled, so does Minaj.
If we are to be logically consistent at all, Minaj needs to go the way of Joss Whedon.
If we are to be logically consistent, the American Humanist Association should issue a statement of condemnation against Nicki Minaj. (Hint, hint.)
OR...
We could find a little bit more forgiveness in our hearts. We could understand that Minaj's cousin likely misinformed her. Or worse, pulled the story out of his ass. Or maybe his friend lied to him. (Maybe his balls are just fine.) We could finally learn that we all need forgiveness as an element of everyday life.
We could forgive Minaj, and Keillor, and Franken, and Whedon, and Dawkins. Because we all make mistakes. We all fuck up!
And we all need forgiveness. It's not just a religious thing.
Eric
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