Jesy Nelson was reportedly warned by her former Little Mix bandmate Leigh-Anne Pinnock not to use dark fake tan because it's offensive to black people.
The report comes after Nicki Minaj, 38, took a swipe at Leigh-Anne on an Instagram live on Monday - after leaked messages purportedly showed the girlband star accusing Jesy of 'blackfishing' - a term used to describe a white person attempting to appear to have black heritage.
It has now emerged that Jesy and Leigh-Anne, both 30, had a frank conversation about blackfishing during their time in the band, but the conversation 'fell on deaf ears'.
Shocking: Little Mix's Jesy Nelson (left) was 'warned by Leigh-Anne Pinnock not to use fake tan because it's offensive to black people' as blackfishing claims rumble on
A source told The Sun: 'Leigh-Anne had a conversation with Jesy, trying to explain why she was upset and why it could be offensive. She felt she had to address it while making her racism documentary, but it apparently fell on deaf ears.
'For Jesy to now claim that it has never been mentioned to her before is really rude. It’s upsetting she hasn’t taken any of this on board.'
MailOnline has approached Jesy and Leigh-Anne's reps for comment.
Blackfishing? Jesy was accused of blackfihing 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
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.
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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.'
Shock swipe: Jesy's Boyz collaborator Nicki stood up for Jesy during an Instagram live stream on Monday as she accused Leigh-Anne, of trying to ruin Jesy's new solo career
Jesy's Boyz collaborator Nicki stood up for Jesy during an Instagram live stream on Monday as she accused Leigh-Anne of trying to ruin Jesy's new solo career - before branding the new mother and the rest of Little Mix 'jealous miserable clowns' on the stream, which was watched by more than 100,000 fans.
She stuck up for her new pal 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 was addressing the news that Leigh-Anne allegedly made the statements in messages to influencer NoHun - who shared the exchange on his Instagram Story.
Nicki went on: 'Sweetheart take them
