THE FALLOUT
What is the Little Mix, Jesy Nelson, Nicki Minaj ‘blackfishing’ row about?
JESY Nelson and her former Little Mix bandmates are embroiled in a 'blackfishing' row.
The fallout first unfolded when an influencer leaked messages allegedly sent by Leigh-Anne Pinnock that asked him to do a video exposing Jesy for being a "blackfish" following the release of her debut single Boyz.
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What is the blackfishing row about?
Jesy's look for her music video for Boyz sparked claims she was blackfishing - a term used when a white person uses black culture and aesthetics for their own gain - when it was released last week.
Leigh-Anne is believed to have accused Jesy of “blackfishing” — when a white person uses black culture to further their career or online presence.
In messages thought to have been sent from Leigh-Anne’s account to influencer No Hun and shared to his 341,000 followers via a live stream, the star wrote: “She blocked us. Cut us off. Horrible person.”
After No Hun asked his fans if he should make up a dance routine to Boyz, Leigh-Anne replied: “No. Do a video about her being a blackfish instead.”
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What has Jesy Nelson said?
The situation escalated further when Jesy went live with Nicki Minaj to address the blackfishing claims.
Jesy has claimed that she'd not been criticised for her image before going solo, but we revealed that Leigh-Anne had warned Jesy against the look when she was still in the girl group.
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In an Instagram livestream with collaborator Nicki Minaj, Jesy confessed that the conversation did take place - after giggling while US rapper Nicki savagely laid into her former bandmate on Monday.
Referencing Leigh-Anne and bandmate Jade Thirlwall, Jesy said: "I was in a group with two women of colour for 10 years and it was never brought up to me until the last music video I did with them when Leigh-Anne messaged me…"
🔵 Read our Jesy Nelson live blog for the latest updates
Defending her image, Jesy also told livestream viewers: "My intention was never to offend people of colour with this video and my song.
"I just want to touch on the whole tanning thing as well, when I was in the video with you [Nicki], I didn't have fake tan on. I'd been in Antigua prior to that for three weeks.
"I'm really lucky as a white girl I tan so much. Leigh-Anne even said to me in the group: 'Are you sure you're not mixed race because you go darker than me in the sun!'
"My hair is naturally curly, I got it from my dad - I wanted to get a wig that emulated the same texture as my hair and I genuinely didn't think I was doing anything wrong."
What has Nicki Minaj said?
While Jesy did not address the Leigh-Anne situation directly, she laughed as Nicki ranted and savaged her former bandmate, and later thanked her for defending her.
She branded Leigh-Anne a "clown" and claimed she was jealous of Jesy's solo success.
After the stream had ended, Nicki wrote on Instagram: "Ayo Jesy!! We got all Leigh jelly btchs akkin all messy #Boyzoutnow."
She added: "Yall know it's all love chile."
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