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And Finally Artist News
Nicki Minaj meet and greet cancelled after waiting crowd gets out of control
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 12 July 2022
A Nicki Minaj meet and greet in London was cancelled yesterday after the crowd who had turned up to hang out with the rapper got out of control. It didn’t help that she was nearly six hours late for the event.
Following her appearance at the Wireless Festival at the weekend, Minaj was due to hold the meet and greet session at Cafe Koko in Camden at midday yesterday.
Initially, despite large numbers of people turning up hoping to gain entry, things appeared relatively calm. However, by the time she eventually arrived just before 6pm, a sizeable crowd had gathered to get a glimpse of the star. Indeed, video footage that she shared on Instagram shows hundreds of fans chasing her car down the street.
Attempts to control the throng proved unsuccessful, despite Minaj’s best efforts. Possibly because her best efforts mainly seem to be a tweet asking people to line up in single file. “Guys, if you don’t get in a contained space they won’t let me get out the car”, she wrote. “Please don’t run in the streets. Please get in one place. One line”.
In the end, police issued a section 35 dispersal order – something enabled by the 2014 Antisocial Behaviour Act – which permits a police officer to order someone to leave an area for up to 48 hours. Although it was seemingly Koko management who ultimately made the decision to cancel the event.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were contacted by venue staff beforehand concerned about significant crowding outside. Further police resources had to be deployed to keep public order and close roads. In the interests of safety the event managers took the decision that the event would not go ahead. Members of the public are advised not to travel to the area”.
This is not the only issue caused by Minaj’s mediocre timekeeping that has arisen during her brief trip to the UK. At Wireless, she was only able to perform half of her headline set after arriving on stage half an hour late. The performance was then beset with various technical difficulties and several breaks, before reaching the event’s strict 9.30pm curfew.
