Nicki Minaj caused fury in the streets of on Thursday after rocking up over five hours late for a meet and greet and then speeding off in her vehicle after seeing the chaotic turnout.
The superstar is in the UK after performing a and sound issues at Wireless Festival in London’s Finsbury Park last night.
The star who arranged to meet fans at midday turned up just after 5pm to the relief and delight of thousands of them who spotted her SUV and ran in a frenzy alongside it.
Nicki, who sported a long orange wig and baseball cap, managed to briefly make it out of the jeep, but was overwhelmed and mobbed by the crowd and was soon rushed back into the vehicle by her security. They then drove off.
However, the Chun-Li hitmaker gave hope that she was just moving to a more secure spot because the crowd was too deep.
She took to Twitter and cautioned in writing: ‘Guys, if you don’t get in a contained space they won’t let me get out the cars. Pls don’t run in the streets. Please get in 1 place. 1 line.’
However, moments later a police officer stood in between the crowd of fans and told them to stop gathering as she had in fact left the area and would not be making a return.
He shouted: ‘Regardless of what Miss Minaj is tweeting, she is not here, she has driven past, she has gone. Regardless of what she’s saying, that is a fact.’
He was met with a chorus of boos.
A statement from Camden Police said there was a local policing plan in place and that police were contacted by venue staff beforehand, concerned about significant crowding outside.
The statement continued: ‘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 it would not go ahead. Members of the public are advised not to travel to the area.
‘A Section 35 Dispersal order is in place. Crowds are leaving and police remain on scene. No arrests.’
On Sunday, seemingly to make up for the underwhelming Wireless show – which had to be cut short because the star hit the stage 40 minutes late and wasn’t allowed to perform past the festival’s 9.30pm curfew – Nicki took to Instagram Live and announced the meet and greet.
She revealed that she would meet fans at Cafe KOKO in Camden at 12pm on Monday.
‘I hope you didn’t book the first flight leaving out tomorrow morning,’ she said when teasing the meet-up.
From the early morning hundreds of fans had already started queueing outside the venue.
This turned into thousands by midday when the star was expected to rock up.
However as the clock kept ticking with no signs of the rapper, her fans’ patience turned into fury.
By 4pm, some took to Twitter to slam the star, and complained of being hungry, feeling duped and that they were struggling to deal with the capital’s soaring temperatures.
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Nicki Minaj for comment.
