Rapper denies her dancers had a hand in fan’s death
JAPAN: Rapper Nicki Minaj has denied claims her dancers were involved
in the death of a young Irish fan whose body was found in a hotel room
after attending a Tokyo concert.
In a posting on her Twitter account, Minaj, who has worked alongside
Rihanna and Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am, expressed her
condolences over the death of the 21-year-old student.
“Saddened to learn one of my precious fans; found tragically murdered
in Japan. My love & prayers are with the family of Nicola Furlong,” the
US star tweeted on Thursday.
Tokyo police last week arrested two American men, 23-year-old dancer
James Blackston and a musician, 19, as part of an investigation into
Furlong's death, a police spokesman said Friday.
Police have not revealed the name of the musician, who is a minor
under Japanese law.
One of the men was with Furlong when she was found dead early on the
morning of May 24 in a Tokyo hotel room, an earlier report said.
An autopsy reportedly showed she may have been strangled.
The men were detained on suspicion of giving alcoholic drinks to
Furlong's friend, also a 21-year-old Irish woman, and then groping her
inside a taxi, police and reports said.
US-based celebrity gossip blog perezhilton.com identified Blackston
as a “backup dancer” for Minaj.
But the rapper, whose Pink Friday album enjoyed huge commercial
success, denied the arrested men were anything to do with her.
“We do NOT know the men in custody,” she tweeted. “My dancers had
nothing to do w/this tragedy. No one in my entourage was questioned or
arrested. They all flew home from Japan,” she tweeted.
Earlier reports said after Furlong and her friend left the Tokyo
concert they had gone to a hotel in the city with the two men. Furlong
went into the room of the 19-year-old American, while the other woman
went with the other man, Kyodo News said.
In the early hours of May 24, a hotel guest complained about a loud
noise from one of the rooms.
A hotel employee went to the room and found Furlong on the floor
lying near the bed and the US teen standing nearby, Kyodo said.
AFP |
