Nicki Minaj made it loud and clear that she stands by Jesy Nelson after she’s faced accusations of Blackfishing.
The accusations of Blackfishing — levied against non-Black influencers and celebrities when they alter their appearances to look Black when they’re not — against Nelson arose following her hip-hop-leaning debut solo single “Boyz,” featuring Minaj, and its accompanying music video, which features her spray tan, multiple wigs, fuller lips and what some have called a “Blaccent” when she sings, “So ‘hood, so good, so damn taboo.” Nelson — a white British woman who left Little Mix, one of the best-selling U.K. girl groups, in December 2020 after nearly a decade, citing mental health reasons — recently revealed she hasn’t spoken to the group’s remaining members since her departure.
U.K. musician and comedian NoHun claimed on his Instagram Story and later on TikTok that Leigh-Anne Pinnock, the only Black member of Little Mix, had allegedly sent him DMs about Nelson blocking her, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards on the social media app (after reports claimed they had all unfollowed her the day after her “Boyz” single dropped) and suggesting he make a video about her “being a black fish.”
While Nelson found herself under scrutiny, Minaj came to her rescue during an hourlong Instagram Live conversation on Monday (Oct. 11). And in the same vein as the rapper’s “Boyz” verse (“Jesy, we got all the jelly bitches actin’ real messy”), Minaj had some choice words to say to Pinnock and the rest of the group about the alleged DMs.
“Sweetheart, take them text messages and shove it up your f—ing a–,” she said with a fake smile. “Don’t try to come out and ruin anyone. Let her enjoy this time. If you was in this woman’s group and you ain’t taking about this sh– for 10 years, and as soon as you see she got a video come out with Nicki Minaj and Puffy, now you sending the stations text messages and all this shit … print them text messages out, bust your a– open and shove it up your motherf—ing a–. And stop trying to hurt people and kill people’s lives and careers. … If you want a solo career, baby girl, just say that.”
The “Anaconda” MC continued shaming the women for allegedly attacking Nelson after they spent the last decade becoming one of the most successful girl groups in the world with more than 50 million records sold worldwide, saying they only chose to air their grievances after her exit.
“It’s just hard for me because I was in a group with two women of color for nine years and it was never brought up to me up until the last music video,” Nelson told Minaj, referring to their 2020 music video for their U.K. No. 1 single “Sweet Melody,” which was the last video Little Mix shot as a foursome and the first time Nelson claims Pinnock mentioned Blackfishing accusations to her.
After the Instagram Live video wrapped, Minaj tweeted, “Don’t call things out when they benefit your personal vendetta to ppl. Call them out immediately once you see it chile. Don’t wait a decade after you’ve made millions with the person.”
Last week, in an interview with Vulture, Nelson said she had never faced Blackfishing accusations “the whole time I was in Little Mix. … And then I came out of [the band] and people all of a sudden were saying it. I wasn’t on social media around that time, so I let my team [deal with it], because that was when I’d just left. But I mean, like, I love Black culture. I love Black music. That’s all I know; it’s what I grew up on.” (Vulture also stated that Nelson canceled two follow-up interviews to specifically discuss the Blackfishing claims, while the singer’s publicist sent the publication a statement about how Nelson “would never intentionally do anything to make myself look racially ambiguous.”)
Watch Minaj and Nelson’s entire IG Live conversation below.
