Lily Allen and James Bay have become involved in a war of words over Twitter, after she criticised the Brit Awards for not showcasing enough diversity.
It all began when Lily penned a now-deleted Facebook post accusing the Brits of being “the awards ceremony Alan Partridge would approve of”, overlooking UK grime acts in favour of more commercial and “tactical” acts.
When asked what he thought of Lily’s remarks, James - who, with four nominations, is one of the acts with the most nods at this year’s Brits - told The Mirror: “It's varied nominations. It's about music. I don't know why she's had to go down that route.”
Lily Allen
Making something of a veiled dig, he added: “I can't think of her last album, when she last released something.”
Lily - whose ‘Sheezus’ album topped the UK albums chart in 2014, ironically bagging her a Best British Female nomination at last year’s Brits - has since had her say on Twitter, and, unsurprisingly, she isn’t impressed with James.
As Lily would say: 'James Bay... and his hat'
Over a string of posts, she accused him of “dodging” her comments about diversity and admitted she’d “not heard of him until she saw him in her news feed”, joking: “He shares a name with the most standard, basic and least flavoursome herb, which I found both fitting and amusing.”
While James is yet to comment on whether or not he takes umbrage to being compared to a bay leaf, he has now clarified his remarks, telling MailOnline: “Having been out of the country in Australia and America for the past three weeks I was unaware of Lily's comments about the Brits.
“I fully support and believe the Brits should represent a diverse spectrum of artists and music. I don't feel negative towards Lily or her music at all, I'd simply been unaware of her most recent release.”
The Brit Awards 2016 will kick off on Wednesday night, airing live on ITV from 8pm.
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