The fallout from Jesy Nelson’s blackfishing row continued to rumble on as Little Mix’s famous pals have unfollowed the singer, including fellow chart-toppers Anne-Marie. MNEK and Paloma Faith.
Relations between Jesy, 30, and her former bandmates are at an all-time low since her exit in December, with recent dramas seeing Leigh-Anne Pinnock slam her for blackfishing in new video Boyz in leaked Instagram messages.
And amid the row, things don’t appear to be getting better for Jesy as it’s been claimed that she’s been unfollowed on social media by Little Mix’s famous pals, with Anne-Marie – who collaborated with the girls on track Kiss My (Uh Oh) – making it clear where she stands.
Uh oh: The fallout from Jesy Nelson’s blackfishing row continued to rumble on as Little Mix’s famous pals have unfollowed the singer, including fellow chart-toppers Anne-Marie (pictured with Little Mix), MNEK and Paloma Faith
Though Jesy had earlier stated that she meant no offence amid the blackfishing fiasco, some have take umbrage at her laughing in the background of a Nicki Minaj live Instagram video in which the rapper branded her former bandmate a ‘clown’.
According to The Sun, Don’t Play hitmaker Anne-Marie, 30, has ‘made it clear where her allegiance lies.’
The publication also reports that: ‘Paloma Faith and MNEK have supported the group publicly since the argument erupted.’
Though it’s unclear how Paloma has sided with Little Mix, MNEK appeared to throw shade at Jesy in a tweet shared on the day of her single release.
Drama: Things don’t appear to be getting better for Jesy as it’s been claimed that she’s been unfollowed on social media by Little Mix’s famous pals, with Anne-Marie making it clear where she stands
The artist took the opportunity to praise black female artists whom he claims ‘deserves more of the shine’, though the singer didn’t directly address Jesy.
MNEK, in celebration of October’s Black History Month, penned: ‘from the heart, I just wanna take this time to promote some talented BLACK female artists who I feel deserve more of the shine than others (others being white people, yes, get uncomfortable) are getting.’
With one fan tweeting in response: ‘damn @MNEK is so real for tweeting all these talented black artists during all this jesy nelson s**t.’
Taking sides: According to The Sun , Don’t Play hitmaker Anne-Marie, 30, has ‘made it clear where her allegiance lies’
The row between the former bandmates hit global headlines this week when leaked messages between Leigh-Anne and influencer NoHun saw the singer accuse Jesy of blackfishing in the music video for her new single, Boyz.
Jesy then took part in an Instagram livestream with Boyz collaborator Nicki, who accused Leigh-Anne of trying to ruin Jesy’s new solo career and branded the new mother and the rest of the group ‘jealous miserable clowns’.
Jesy was then said to be ‘devastated’ Leigh-Anne had ‘sparked racial hatred’ and a new wave of intense trolling towards her, telling pals she couldn’t believe ‘someone she once called family could be so cruel.’
However, a source clarified to MailOnline: ‘It’s not fair to criticise Leigh-Anne over this. She was just upset as were others over blackfishing, and social media is awash with it.’
Making a dig? Though it’s unclear how Paloma has sided with Little Mix, MNEK appeared to throw shade at Jesy in a tweet shared on the day of her single release
Having his say: The artist took the opportunity to praise black female artists whom he claims ‘deserves more of the shine’, though the singer didn’t directly address Jesy
reaction: With one fan tweeting in response: ‘damn @MNEK is so real for tweeting all these talented black artists during all this jesy nelson s**t’
Choice: MNEK doesn’t follow Jesy on Instagram
Not found: Jesy isn’t one of the accounts that Paloma Faith follows
They added that Jesy should have been aware of the backlash her music video would receive as she had already been spoken about blackfishing by Leigh-Anne during her time in the band.
They explained: ‘Everyone had been very supportive to Jesy. Leigh Anne and others sat down with Jesy years ago and spoke to her about blackfishing – and warned her about her excessive tanning and wearing braids.
‘The word “blackfishing” may not have been used but the principle of it was. But Jesy didnt want to hear it – she just didn’t want to know! It’s not new news to her.’
MailOnline has contacted Jesy’s representatives for comment.
Blackfishing? Jesy was accused of blackfishing after releasing the music video to her single, Boyz – a remake of Diddy’s 2001 video Bad Boy For Life, which she samples in her new track
Heard it all before: Jesy should have been aware of the backlash her music video would receive as she had already been spoken about blackfishing by Leigh-Anne during her time in the band
The blackfishing row shows no signs of dying down anytime soon, however, after Jesy’s pal Nicki doubled down on her row with Leigh-Anne in a series of tweets on Tuesday.
After hitting out at Leigh-Anne during her Instagram live with Jesy on Monday, the rapper reiterated her comments in tweets on Tuesday – taking aim at Leigh-Anne’s ‘messy’ fans and accusing them of having a negative impact on Jesy’s mental health.
Jesy has spoken candidly about her mental health battles in the past, and revealed in her 2019 BBC documentary, Odd One Out, that she attempted suicide after being subjected to vicious trolling.
What is ‘blackfishing’?
A newly coined phrase in 2018, ‘blackfishing’ describes someone who pretends to be black on social media for social or financial gain – using make-up, hairstyles, or even surgery to alter their appearance and adopt characteristics typically associated with women of colour.
The term came to prominence after a post calling out the ‘alarming’ amount of ‘white girls cosplaying as black women on Instagram’ was liked nearly 50,000 times on Twitter.
It prompted users to flood the thread with before and after snaps revealing drastic changes to certain influencers’ appearance.
Following a backlash over the livestream chat, Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki noted Jesy’s mental state as she tweeted: ‘JeLeigh btchs actin real messy. ~ if you know someone has been suicidal from bullying in the past, why try to get a bunch of ppl to bully them again about smthng else, on an even bigger scale?
‘Shame on you— that’s rlly sad. You don’t know what ppl can deal with. Mental Health [sic].’
The post came after Nicki also took a not-so subtle swipe at Leigh-Anne in which she accused the singer of only speaking out about blackfishing now that Jesy is no longer helping the band make money.
‘You know she was suicidal, shame on you!’: The blackfishing row shows no signs of dying down anytime soon after Nicki Minaj (left) doubled down on her row with Leigh-Anne
Nicki posted: ‘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 #BoyzOutNow.
‘When ppl can’t get money with you they always try to stop your bag. Well only the corny ones chile #BoyzOutNow going live in one hour.
‘Jesy! We got all these #Jelly btchs actin real MESSY!!!!! Stop it miss gorl Flag of United Kingdom going live in one hour on IG to get into sum thangz [sic]’.
The row has stemmed from a string of leaked messages released by influencer NoHun, in which Leigh-Anne allegedly accused Jesy of ‘blackfishing’ with her new music video.
Not holding back: After lashing out at Leigh-Anne on Instagram live, Nicki then took aim at Leigh-Anne’s ‘messy fans’, accusing them of having a negative impact on Jesy’s mental health
Painful: Jesy has spoken candidly about her mental health battles and revealed in her 2019 BBC documentary, Odd One Out, that she attempted suicide after being subjected to trolling
Three years ago Jesy was first accused of cultural appropriation when she sported braids in her hair in a photo posted to Instagram, which was later deleted.
She came under fire yet again after releasing the music video to her new single, Boyz – a remake of Diddy’s 2001 video Bad Boy For Life, which she samples in her new track.
Addressing the claims in an interview with Vulture, Jesy claimed that she was never targeted with ‘blackfishing’ claims while she was in Little Mix and has only faced such criticism following her departure from the girlband.
‘I’m very aware that I’m a white British woman; I’ve never said that I wasn’t,’ she said, defended herself from the accusations.
‘But I mean, like, I love Black culture. I love Black music. That’s all I know; it’s what I grew up on.’
Eek: The post came after Nicki took a swipe at Leigh-Anne in which she accused the singer of only speaking out about blackfishing now that Jesy is no longer helping the band make money
Jesy’s Boyz collaborator Nicki stood up for Jesy during an Instagram live stream by saying: ‘Bringing someone down is clown behaviour. […] Why didn’t they say anything when [Jesy] was in the band. All of a sudden [Jesy] is not in the band anymore. They have something to say about it.’
Nicki went on: ‘Sweetheart take them f****** text messages and shove it up your a**.. Don’t come out and ruin anyone.’
Jesy, who had stayed silent throughout Nicki’s tirade, laughed at this before the Superbass singer added: ‘Only jealous people do things like this. It makes you a big jealous bozo. I love you guys but please don’t do this. Let these people be miserable all by themselves.’
Shock swipe: Jesy’s Boyz collaborator Nicki stood up for Jesy amid the blackfishing row during an Instagram live stream on Monday
Nicki also said: ‘A lot of women tan, get bigger lips and get stuff done to themselves’ in reference to the blackfishing accusation.
Defending herself, Jesy spoke up and said: ‘I just personally want to say, it was never intention to offend people of colour with this video – this is what I grew up with.
‘In my opinion, 90/00s R’n’B is the best era of music. I just wanted to celebrate that. My intentions were never to offend anyone. It really hurts me that I have hurt people’s feelings.’
Speaking out: Leigh-Anne allegedly accused Jesy of blackfishing in messages to influencer NoHun – who shared the exchange on his Instagram Story
She then went onto reveal that she didn’t even have any fake tan on in the music video, which was released in conjunction with the new song.
Jesy said that she had a natural tan from being in Antigua a few weeks prior to the shoot, and she even claimed that Leigh-Anne once asked her if she was sure she wasn’t mixed race because she tanned so easily in the sun.
She went on: ‘I have naturally curly hair. In this industry if you keep putting s*** on your hair it gets damaged. I wanted to get a wig that emulated my hair for the video.’
Nicki collaborated with Little Mix back in 2018 on the song Woman Like Me, but this fact did not feature heavily in the conversation between the two on the livestream.
Opinionated: Nicki went on, ‘Sweetheart take them f****** text messages and shove it up your a**.. Don’t come out and ruin anyone’
Earlier On Monday, Leigh-Anne allegedly claimed that and her bandmates did not unfollow the star on Instagram as has been widely reported but were instead blocked by Jesy.
A slew of messages to NoHun saw Leigh-Anne insist that ‘no one knows anything’ when it comes to the fallout and that she was ‘raging’.
The leaked messages showed Leigh-Anne replying to NoHun’s poll, asking whether he should create a dance routine to Jesy’s debut solo single Boyz.
Defence: Jesy defended herself against blackfishing, saying .’I just personally want to say, it was never my intention to offend people of colour with this video – this is what I grew up with’
Leigh-Anne appeared to respond telling him ‘no’, leading to a shocked No Hun replying: ‘Omg Leigh-Anne I thought you were all okay. Wtf (sic).’
Leigh-Anne then continued: ‘Do a video about her being a blackfish instead… She blocked us. Cut us off.’
A second slew of messages saw Leigh-Anne insist that ‘no one knows anything’ when it comes to the fallout and that she was ‘raging’.
The claims that Jesy blocked her bandmates on social media come following reports that Leigh-Anne, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall had unfollowed Jesy on social media a day after she dropped her first single Boyz, featuring rappers Nicki Minaj and Diddy.
As well as the singer’s personal accounts, an Instagram account for Perrie’s dog Hatchi also unfollowed Jesy.
The official Little Mix Instagram account does appear to still be following Jesy, however.
Old pals? Nicki collaborated with Little Mix back in 2018 on the song Woman Like Me, but this fact did not feature heavily in the conversation between the two on the livestream
NoHun has since deleted the exchange from Instagram, but shared a TikTok video in which he accused Leigh-Anne of asking him to do the band’s ‘dirty work’ with her request that he make a video about blackfishing.
He said: ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate for a member of Little Mix to message me after I posted a video dancing to the new Jesy Nelson song, saying that I should make a video about her being a blackfish instead.
‘So you want me to create content that you know is going to incite hatred and bullying to a person who has been so open and honest and vocal about how trolling has affected their mental health?’
Leaked: Influencer NoHun (pictured) shared a slew of messages that he claims were between himself and Leigh-Anne before blasting the star for asking him to do her ‘dirty work’ and make a video about blackfishing