Video footage has revealed the moment a group of Nicki Minaj fans started scrapping on the steps just minutes after the sell out Co-op Live gig was cancelled.
Scores of fans were left devastated after the concert at the 23,500-capacity music venue was pulled at the last minute – just hours after reports emerged that the 41-year-old American rapper had been arrested in Amsterdam.
Fans were let into the Co-op Live Arena for her show at around 7pm on Saturday (May 25), before the promoter Live Nation announced at around 9.40pm that it would be postponed and rescheduled for a later date.
READ MORE Nicki Minaj fans slam Co-op Live over ‘absolutely ridiculous’ gig cancellation
But as tensions were high and the disappointed crowds made their exit from the venue, a group of four girls were filmed fighting on the steps as horrified onlookers watched on.
In clips posted to social media and seen by the M.E.N, one of the party appears to be kneeling on top of another girl laying on her back on the stairs as the pair hit one another. One of them then drags another girl down onto the ground as they both grab onto each other’s hair.
Another girl is seen to push a fourth concertgoer down a step as part of the altercation, before two men intervene in an attempt to split up the brawl.
An onlooker at the gig said they believed it was ‘a group of friends’ fighting and that a man had ‘walked over to try and break up’ the chaos moments after.
Following the news of the cancellation, fans could be seen leaving the arena and heading out away from the Etihad Campus in videos shared online. In one of the clips, a tannoy announcement is played out while fans can be heard shouting and screaming as they exit the venue.
It came after Minaj put a series of social media posts on X saying ‘they’re trying to keep me from MANCHESTER’. In a string of posts on her profile, she said that her luggage has been taken at the airport while travelling from Amsterdam to attend the gig
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A statement was later issued by Live Nation, the tour promoter for the show. It states: “Nicki Minaj’s scheduled performance at Manchester’s Co-op Live on Saturday 25th May has been postponed. Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance which will be announced ASAP.
“Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, the events of today have made it impossible. We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused. More information will be available at your point of purchase.”
The Manchester Evening News has contacted Co-op Live.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
