Hitmaker Skrillex has hit back at Deadmau5 for suggesting that Justin Bieber used him "as a goddamn tool". 

When asked about the criticism by Rolling Stone magazine recently, Skrillex explained that it was a cheap shot and he actually has a lot of respect for Bieber so would have just defended his decision to work with him:

"If he was a real friend, he would come to me and be like, "Yo, you shouldn't be working for Justin Bieber," rather than blowing it up all over the Internet and going out of his way to make people feel wrong for making a choice in their life."

He added: "And I would say to him, "I enjoy working with Justin Bieber!" I'm a fan of his voice. And if you're a producer and you get an opportunity to work with someone who's the biggest artist in the world – for better or for worse – what would you say? Would you say no?"

Back in July 2015, Skrillex described Bieber as a "virtuoso", telling Billboard: "Justin is a f---ing virtuoso. He’ll school you at every-thing: Ping-Pong, basketball, freestyle rapping. The kid is so competitive. Whatever he does he’s super good at, so you don’t stand a chance. It’s not even fair."

Follow us: @Pressparty on Twitter / Pressparty on Facebook.

Watch Skrillex and Bieber in action below: