#BallGate latest: Minister slams Nicki Minaj’s swollen testicles claim [watch]

Dubbed #BallGate, Nicki Minaj’s rant about vaccines and her “swollen testicles claim” has been the talk of the Twitter timeline this week.

But one person who is not entertaining her unsubstantiated claims about the side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccine is Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Dr Terrence Deyalsingh.

The official – who is also a qualified medical doctor – spoke out about the celebrity’s allegations in a special press conference on Wednesday 15 September.

‘WE WASTED SO MUCH TIME RUNNING DOWN NICKI MINAJ’S FALSE CLAIM’

According to Nicki Minaj in a tweet that has gone viral, a friend of her cousin’s in Trinidad and Tobago experienced a side effect to the COVID-19 vaccine to his reproductive organs.

But the health minister has shut down these claims.

He said in the press conference:  “We had to check that what she was saying was either true or false…As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad … and none that we know of anywhere in the world. 

“Unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim. What was sad about this that we wasted so much time because we take all these claims seriously.”

#BREAKING – Trinidad & Tobago Health Minister Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh responds to swollen testicle claim made by Trinidad-born entertainer @NICKIMINAJ; says there is no such reported case in Trinidad & Tobago (TTT) pic.twitter.com/NNsc9EUTKP

— Kevz Politics (@KevzPolitics) September 15, 2021

Nicki Minaj has yet to respond to the minister’s comments.

TREVOR NOAH SLAMS NICKI MINAJ: ‘THIS HAS TURNED INTO A REAL PROBLEM’

A number of media personalities like Piers Morgan, Megan McCain and many others have spoken out about Nicki Minaj’s tweets, and now The Daily Show Host Trevor Noah has also weighed in on the hot topic.

He said during the show: “People say wild stuff about the vaccine all the time but most people don’t have tens of millions of followers…

“This has turned into a real problem in a real country being handled by real health professionals.”

During the episode of the show Trevor spoke to Dr Terrence Deyalsingh where he reiterated his stance that the rapper’s claims are false.

Speaking of the vaccine roll-out in the country he said: “With those million doses we have administered to date, there have only been five cases of adverse events, all reported to the WHO. None of them includes testicular swelling.

“When one weighs that against ravages of Covid-19 around the world where close to 4,6 million people have died, the advantages of vaccination far, far outweigh the miniscule risk”.

Meanwhile Nicki Minaj has hit back at the White House after they denied reports that she was invited to speak about her vaccine concerns.

She said in a video posted to Instagram: “Do ya’ll think that I would go on the internet and lie about being invited to the f***ing White House?”

“It’s disgusting that a person can’t speak about just questions or thoughts they’re having about something they’re going to have to put in their body, that this attack is this hateful and purposeful…If I want to ask questions about the vaccine, what’s wrong?”

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