Nicki Minaj has defended Jesy Nelson after she was accused of black fishing in the music video for new single Boyz.

The Anaconda rapper, 38, features on the song and appeared in an Instagram Live video with former Little Mix star Jesy yesterday to promote the new track.

Addressing the claims of black fishing - a term people use to accuse someone of pretending to be black or mixed-race - Jesy said the subject of blackfishing only came up when she was filming her last music video with the girl group, which she left after nine years last December.

Taking to social media afterwards, Nicki tweeted that fans should not be “bullying” someone who has “been suicidal from bullying in the past”.

Nicki also didn’t mince her words following reports of “leaked” messages between Little Mix member Leigh-Anne Pinnock and an influencer where the account claiming to be Leigh-Anne suggested they do a black fishing video about Jesy.

Appearing to take aim at Little Mix, she wrote: “Don’t call things out when they benefit your personal vendetta to ppl. Call them out immeadiately once you see it chile. Don’t wait a decade after you’ve made millions with the person.”

She added a crying with laughter emoji and the hastag “BoyzOutNow”.