Image Source: The Independent, Pitchfork

'Little Mix' member Leigh-Anne Pinnock recently celebrated her 30th birthday with her loved ones where she wore a burgundy velvet catsuit from designer Laquan Smith and in between addressed the video in which Nicki Minaj and former band member Jesy Nelson mocked her.

During Leigh’s birthday celebration, she took the time to address the drama that has been going online, in which screenshots of Leigh’s DM were leaked advising a fan to call out on Jesy Nelson’s black fishing. She said, "I’m 30 years old. I know my character, you know my character, anyone that meets me knows my f*king character. – And that’s all I care about. I’m so proud of everything I’ve achieved. The most beautiful fiancé, who I’m still obsessed with even after five years. I love you. And the two most beautiful, perfect babies. Everything I stand for, everything I’m fighting for, it’s for them [the twins]. I will never stop. I have found my voice now, and I will continue to use it. Tonight we celebrate life, best friends and amazing family. I love you all."

Leigh’s fiancé, Andre Gray, intervened after the singer became teary-eyed, saying that anyone who would be disrespectful to his wife-to-be would have a ‘problem’ with him. The Watford footballer said, "You can put this on Instagram or whatever and if you’ve anything to say, come and find me. If you’re going to try and disrespect my baby mother, my wife, my fiancée and my children, there’s going to be a problem. That’s how it is. All I want to do is support you three. Everyone in here knows his or her names. When they grow up, I hope they’re just like you."

The former Little Mix member Jesy Nelson released her debut single, 'Boyz', featuring Nicki Minaj, was on October 8th, 2021. The song and especially Jesy Nelson received a lot of backlash from the audience. As the audience and some publications pointed out, Jesy arguably performs with a ‘Blaccent’ during some songs. Jesy was accused of ‘Black fishing’, a term that refers to someone who changes their appearance to look like a black person or someone racially ambiguous.

Nicki Minah and Jesy Nelson took to Instagram live, and Nicki defended Jesy by stating, "Take those text messages and shove them up to your f—ing ass. Let her enjoy this time. If you were in this group and haven't talked about this s— for 10 years, if you want a solo career as a baby girl, just say that... If that's how you felt, why were you kiki'ing with her and being in videos with her for 10 years." The comments by Nicki come after DMs about the entire ‘black fishing drama’ were allegedly sent from Leigh-Anne Pinnock’s account.

Following a backlash from Little Mix fans, Minaj then tweeted, "JeLeigh Btchs actin' real messy. If you know someone has been suicidal because of bullying in the past, why try to get a bunch of people to bully them again."

Jesy Nelson also addressed the drama by stating, "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. 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 because it is what I love. "

The singer also added that her intentions were never to offend anyone, and genuinely, it hurts her that her song offended people. According to sources close to Jesy, her team is trying to protect the singer from all the negative trolls and disrespectful comments she has been receiving online. "Comments about ‘disrespect’ only amplify things further. Everyone needs to take a step back", said the insider

According to reports, Little Mix is going to announce their split next month as there have been a lot of speculations about the future of the band. The insiders mentioned that a date has been set, and their upcoming tour is going to be a farewell to their fans.

In December 2020, Jesy Nelson left Little Mix explaining that being in the band was having too great an impact on her mental health and she wanted to take a step back. She has addressed being the target of online trolls in a BBC documentary, "Odd One Out", while still in Little Mix.