Jesy Nelson Accused Of Blackfishing After 'Boyz' Collab With Nicki Minaj; Singer Responds

Jesy Nelson is addressing accusations of Blackfishing and cultural appropriation leveled against her following the release of her debut solo single "Boyz" with Nicki Minaj.

Over the weekend, the former Little Mix member was accused by social media users of intentionally changing her style in order to appear racially ambiguous in the music video for "Boyz," which dropped Friday.

Nelson addressed the controversy in an Instagram Live with Minaj, saying that she never intended to offend anyone with her music video.

"I personally want to say that my intention was never ever to offend people of color with this video and my song because like I said, growing up as a young girl, this is the music that I listened to," Nelson, 30, was quoted by People as saying. "These are the videos that I watched and thought were the best. For me personally, '90s R&B were the best years in music. I just wanted to celebrate that. I just want to celebrate that era of music is what I love."

She continued, "My intention was never, ever, ever to offend anyone and genuinely it actually does really hurt me that I may have offended people and actually, like, hurt people's feelings just by genuinely celebrating something that I love."

Nelson faced criticism from Black social media users for allegedly tanning her skin darker and attempting to look biracial in her music video while singing about wanting a man who's "so hood, so good, so damn taboo" with "tattoos and them gold teeth."

Addressing the comments about her skin tone, the British singer claimed that she did not get a "fake tan" prior to shooting the music video and just "[tans] so dark" when she's under the sun. Nelson went on to explain that her hair is "naturally curly," saying she inherited it from her father.

Nelson also told Vulture, in an interview published Friday, that she was "just 100% being myself" and that she loved Black culture and Black music.

"If you look at me on X-Factor with my big curly hair, I was wearing trainers and combats — that's who I am as an artist and as Jesy," she told the outlet. "Now I'm out of Little Mix, I've gone back to being who I am. Like I said, I don't ever want to be an artist who's being told what to wear or what music to make."

The outlet said that it had scheduled follow-up calls with Nelson to discuss the Blackfishing allegations, but her team canceled them and instead released a statement.

"I take all those comments made seriously," Nelson said in her statement to Vulture. "I would never intentionally do anything to make myself look racially ambiguous, so that's why I was initially shocked that the term was directed at me."

Nelson, who opened up about her struggles with low self-esteem and poor mental health during her time in Little Mix in her 2019 documentary "Odd One Out," quit the girl group in December last year.

"Boyz" is her solo debut since signing with Polydor in May.