Rose McGowan has said that she “stands with” Nicki Minaj after the rapper faced a backlash this week over her remarks about the coronavirus vaccine.

Minaj, who said that she would get vaccinated “once I feel I’ve done enough research”, claimed on Monday (September 13) that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad had been made impotent by a COVID vaccine and “his testicles became swollen”.

The claim was subsequently dismissed by Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister Terrence Deyalsingh, who said that their department “wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim”.

England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that Minaj should be “ashamed” of her comments, while US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said the rapper should “be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis”.

McGowan has, however, spoken out in support of Minaj in a short statement that she shared to her social media channels this morning (September 17).

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A post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan)

“I stand with Nicki Minaj and all who see what is happening,” McGowan wrote. “Both of us know the powerful elite and it’s likely you do not.

“If you are freaking out because she said something you don’t believe, it’s most likely because you are scared to examine the thought too closely. Millionaires have become billionaires, billionaires are now trillionaires. Think. Question. Just cos you want to believe what your cult leaders say, doesn’t make it fact.”

Minaj has also claimed this week that she was invited to The White House following her claims about the COVID vaccine, but White House officials later clarified that she was simply offered a phone call.

Earlier this week a group of anti-vaccine protesters held a rally outside the Centre for Disease Control’s headquarters in Atlanta and shouted slogans which referenced Minaj‘s controversial tweets.