Little Mix Said They Once Spoke To Jesy Nelson About Blackfishing When She Was Still In The Band

After releasing her latest music video, Boyz, which samples Diddy's hit song "Bad Boys for Life," Jesy Nelson was accused of blackfishing.

The former Little Mix singer was said to be appropriating Black culture by tanning her skin and trying to appear racially ambiguous with her makeup.

Although Nicki Minaj came to the singer’s defense, Nelson’s former bandmates — Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock — said that they once had to talk to Nelson about blackfishing when she was still in their group, Little Mix.

"We've dealt with it in the best way that we know how, and got each other through it," Thirlwall told the Telegraph's Stella magazine in a recent interview.

"We don't want to talk about the video, or be critical, but one thing we will clarify regarding the blackfishing situation is that Jesy was approached by the band in a very friendly, educational manner,” she continued.

Although Thirlwall said that she and the girls did not want to “dwell” on the issue because they “have so much to celebrate as a three," she did say that blackfishing can be very “problematic.”

"Capitalizing on aspects of blackness without having to endure the daily realities of the Black experience is problematic and harmful to people of color," she said.

"We think it's absolutely not OK to use harmful stereotypes,” Thirlwall continued. “There's so much to say on that subject that it's hard to sum up in a sound bite."

When Vulture asked Nelson about her being accused of blackfishing, she said that she didn’t understand where everyone was coming from because she is "just 100% being [her]self."

"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 said. "Now I'm out of Little Mix, I've gone back to being who I am.”

"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 added in a statement.

You can read Little Mix’s full interview with Stella magazine here!