Nicki Minaj blames runway and customs delays for Montreal show starting hours late

Flight mishaps happen to the best of us, but typically there are not 20,000 fans waiting at the Bell Centre for the person on the plane.

Runway and customs hang-ups were to blame for Nicki Minaj taking the stage hours late in Montreal on Wednesday night, said the 41-year-old rapper originally from Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago.

As fans waited past 11 p.m. for Minaj, whose show was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m., she posted on social media that her flight at around 1 p.m. was delayed until 5 p.m., and then when her team got to the plane, they were told it would be delayed further.

"When we got to the plane, they then said they were 'STILL FUELING,'" Minaj wrote on X.

Minaj would have likely went on stage around 9:30 p.m., as there were opening acts that began playing at 8:45 p.m.

When arriving in Montreal, Minaj said the delays continued at customs after she landed, and that "they did a bunch of stuff they didn't do the last 2 times I came."

"They started searching through my personal purses," she wrote. "Usually, they take me to the car with my purses & check the bigger luggage. Nope. Not this time. They know I have a show, they know we're 20 mins away. They know we don't have a police escort."

As her fans waited in their seats past 11 p.m., Minaj posted to her "barbz" (fans) that she "can't wait to see you."

"The sabotage be real but GOD IS REALER," she said. "We're going to have a magical night. Love you. My apologies. I'm going to get to the bottom of this when I get off stage."

She strolled on stage at just before 11:30 p.m. and finished after 1 a.m.

It is the second time in recent months that a major show at the Bell Centre has started late. Madonna took the stage around 10 p.m. for a show that was supposed to start at 8:30 p.m. Fans in New York are suing the singer over her tardiness for the show there.

The Montreal fans seem to have been forgiving on Minaj's lateness.

"It was a blast! Well worth the wait," said Kristina Kaitlyn Glen, who went to the show with her sister.

"Wow and they tried to stop this amazing wshow from happening!!!" wrote one fan who attended the show. "But God had different plans!!!"