The nominees for this year's MTV VMAs were announced yesterday and rapper Nicki Minaj wasn't happy to have been excluded from certain categories when she felt that she qualified for them, and told her followers on Twitter that she's tired of the fact that "black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it".

Writing on Twitter in the early hours of this morning, Minaj thanked MTV for her three nominations, but she also questioned why she wasn't recognised in the Video of the Year category and why her cut with Beyoncé wasn't even mentioned:

"Hey guys @MTV thank you for my nominations. Did 'Feeling Myself' miss the deadline or...? If I was a different "kind" of artist, 'Anaconda' would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well. Ellen did her own anaconda video and did the #choreo lol. Remember her doing that kick. Even mtv did a post on the choreo @MTV remember? If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year."

Following her social media activity, hitmaker Taylor Swift sent her a public message on Twitter that seemed to imply she thought Minaj was referring to her nominations for 'Bad Blood': "@NICKIMINAJ I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot... If I win, please come up with me!! You're invited to any stage I'm ever on."

Upon reading the 'Style' beauty's response, Minaj replied: "Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn't say a word about u. I love u just as much. But u should speak on this. @taylorswift13. Nothing I said had to do with Taylor. So what jabs? White media and their tactics. So sad. That's what they want."

Minaj added: "I'm so glad u guys get to see how this stuff works. Taylor took her music off spotify and was applauded. We launched Tidal & were dragged."

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