Nicki Minaj Responds To Report That Fan Was Murdered By Her Back Up Dancer: “My Dancers Had Nothing to Do With This”

Nicki Minaj’s name is caught right in the middle of a murder mystery after one of her Barbz was found dead after a tour stop in Tokyo last week. According to reports, a 21 year old Irish foreign exchange student name Nicola Furlong, and a friend attended a Nicki Minaj concert and the girls ended up missing their last train home after the show. They somehow met James ‘King Tight’ Blackston (who is an alleged dancer of Nicki Minaj) and his friend Larry who invited the girls to stay at their hotel until the train started running in the morning. The four took a cab ride back to the hotel and the female friend, who survived, said that she was fondled on the ride home. Both girls were under the influence of alcohol.

When they arrived to the hotel, Nicola went with Larry to his room while James and her female friend went to another. Around 3:00 a.m., guests began complaining to security that there were loud noises coming from Larry’s room. When security went to investigate, they entered the room and found Larry standing over Nicola’s unconscious body. She was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. The police say that she died of suffocation by cervical compression and may have been sexually assault after she was already dead. They’re also investigating whether or not the girls’ drinks were spiked before the incident.

Nicki took to her Twitter to give her condolences earlier today, while stating that none of her dancers have anything to do with the murder and she has no idea who the guys are that Japanese police have in custody:

“Saddened to learn one of my precious fans found tragically (dead) in Japan. My love & prayers are with the family of Nicola Furlong.
@PerezHilton my dancers had nothing to do w/this tragedy. No one in my entourage was questioned or arrested. They all flew home from Japan. @PerezHilton that person on your sight is NOT my dancer. We do NOT know the men in custody. Too much misleading information.”

Meanwhile, Nicola’s family has released a statement asking the public to respect their time of mourning during the ongoing investigation.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beautiful daughter/sister Nicola in such tragic circumstances. Nicola was a warm, generous, stunning person who always had time for her family and other people. Nicola will always be at the centre of our lives. She stood for everything that is good in life. The Japanese police are continuing their investigations into the circumstances surrounding Nicola’s death. As these circumstances are unclear at this time we respectfully request time and space to mourn Nicola with dignity.”

There isn’t much info out there about the suspect, James Jamari Blackston except for that he is a U.S Citizen that has toured with various celebs including The Black Eyed Peas. He was an associate of Omarion, who tweeted a photo of James asleep two years ago as well as appeared in a dance battle with him posted on youtube. According to his facebook page, he posted that he was on tour in Japan on May 19 (Nicki Minaj was in Australia on that date).

Necole Bitchie