Leigh-Anne Pinnock has seemingly addressed former bandmate Jesy Nelson's infamous Instagram live with Nicki Minaj.
Little Mix legend Leigh-Anne, 31, has been recalling the darker side of fame ahead of releasing her first solo single on Friday - explaining how she handled "a massive drama" on social media just weeks on from giving birth to twins in August 2021.
The mum-of-two admitted negative comments "stick" but revealed how she managed to take a step back from the situation involving her ex bandmate.
In October 2021, less than one year on from quitting Little Mix in order to protect her mental health, Jesy stunned fans of the award-winning group when she appeared to take a swipe at her former friends.
After being accused of blackfishing in the music video for her debut solo single Boyz, which featured rapper Nicki Minaj, Jesy doubled down when she infamously appeared on an Instagram Live with the Super Bass hitmaker.
Nicki branded Little Mix "clowns" during the live chat and accused them of being "jealous" of Jesy’s solo success - defending the Essex born singer from accusations of appropriating Black culture and history for her own gain.
Around the same time, a Little Mix fan leaked private Instagram direct messages supposedly showing Leigh-Anne accussing Jesy of blackfishing as well as blocking herself, Jade Thirwall and Perrie Edwards on social media.
Leigh-Anne found herself the centre of a social media storm following the leak and Jesy's chat with Nicki, alongside adapting to motherhood after giving birth to twins with partner Andre Gray.
Speaking almost two years on from the drama, Leigh-Anne reveals her newborn babies helped her keep things in perspective amid the online chaos.
When quizzed by British Vogue about her experience of fame, the Don't Say Love singer recalled how she was so young when she rose to fame on The X Factor and wasn't ready to read some comments from viewers on social media.
"I remember seeing one comment that said: 'The Black girl sounds like a white girl and the white girl sounds like a Black girl'," Leigh-Anne remembered during a chat to promote her debut solo single.
"I’ve never forgotten that. Those comments stick. But there’s always going to be negativity."
Discussing more recent experiences - seemingly Jesy's Instagram Live with Nicki - the star added: "I found myself in this massive drama on Twitter, maybe a month after giving birth, and one of the babies smiled at me for the first time.
"I was just like: 'Well, this puts everything into perspective, doesn’t it?' All I had to do was put the phone down and it went away, because it’s not real."
Leigh-Anne will be the first of the Little Mix ladies to release solo material later this week, after the award-winning trio went on hiatus following the end of their Confetti tour in May last year.
The three women have all been keen to stress the group has not split up and will support each other's solo ventures before rebanding in the future.
Jesy recently dropped her second solo single following her debut offering in 2021. Bad Thing, released in April this year, failed to chart on the UK Top 100 UK Singles Chart, but peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart.
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