A meet and greet scheduled in Camden for Nicki Minaj had to be cancelled due to overcrowding.
Adoring fans descended upon Cafe Koko in their droves after the rapper took to social media to reveal she would be at the venue from noon on Monday.
Delays meant the performer did not arrive until just before 6pm, by which point the crowds were such that she had to be flanked by police before being escorted to the venue. Minaj is in the UK due to her appearance at Wireless festival in Finsbury Park, north London, where she was part of a historic lineup of all-female headliners.
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 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 https://t.co/6XixF1OTh9
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 11, 2022
The Metropolitan police confirmed that venue staff, “concerned about significant crowding outside”, contacted them in the run-up to the event. Organisers then decided to cancel the meet and greet “in the interests of safety”.
In light of the crowding concerns, a section 35 dispersal order – which authorises a police officer or PCSO in uniform to exclude a person from an area for a period of up to 48 hours – has been enforced in the area. No arrests were made.
As the crowd trouble intensified on Monday afternoon near the Crowndale Road venue, the rapper made a Twitter plea to her fans. She wrote: “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.”
The cancellation came less than 24 hours after the US rapper headlined the Finsbury Park leg of the festival, where the anticipation surrounding her performance saw “confused security personnel struggle to keep crowds pacified”.
Cafe Koko has been approached for comment.
