It may have begun with a single tweet, but the online feud between hip-hop queen Nicki Minaj and country crooner Taylor Swift has evolved into a much wider conversation about bias, race and gender that has sparked a furious online debate between the singers’ fans.

And the latest twist in the tale saw Minaj’s most dedicated followers expressing their outrage and fury over a tweet posted by Entertainment Weekly about the feud, which featured a photo of an angelic-looking Swift next to one of Minaj looking wide-eyed and slightly unhinged – in what fans saw as a totally ‘biased’ depiction of the duelling divas. 

EW apologized and swapped the photo, but the angry backlash continues on social media – and #TeamNicki tweets outweighs #TeamTaylor tweets two to one, Styleite reports.

Dueling divas: Entertainment Weekly chose to run a photo of a sweetly smiling Taylor next to an older one of Nicki that many believe makes her appear slightly unhinged

Coming clean: The magazine swapped the photos and apologized on Twitter

‘An earlier version of our post on Taylor & Nicki used an insensitive juxtaposition of photos,’ a tweet on the magazine’s @EW page read. ‘It was a hasty choice—we sincerely apologize.’ 

The feud started when Nicki took to Twitter to vent her frustration over the fact that her smash hit Anaconda – a rump-shaking raunchy take on pop culture portrayals of curvy black women that received 19.6 million clicks in its first 24 hours, a music video record at the time – was not nominated for video of the year.

‘If I was a different “kind” of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well,’she tweeted. ‘Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it.’

She then wrote: ‘If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year.’

Playing nice: The photo that Entertainment Weekly chose to replace the controversial picture shows both women smiling and standing next to each other

Though Minaj did not mention a specific artist, many interpreted the comment as a thinly-veiled swipe at Taylor Swift, whose video Bad Blood video featured a group of skinny supermodels wielding guns and weapons, while flaunting their figures in an array of tough-looking leather ensembles.

The action-packed clip also featured cameos from celebrities including Lena Dunham, Selena Gomez and Lamar. So far, Bad Blood has racked up 360 million views on YouTube. 

Apparently, self-described feminist Swift agreed, because she fired off an impassioned response. 

‘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,’ she wrote. 

Weighing in: Huda Hassan linked to the offending photo and called Entertainment Weekly out on Twitter

Heating up: Users including @freespiritniall voiced their disapproval before later deleting the Tweet

 Quick response: Twitter commenters quickly began circulating the photo and tweeting their disapproval to Entertainment Weekly

But many online commenters believe that the Entertainment Weekly photo choice helps prove Minaj’s point. 

Huda Hassan wrote: ‘Can we discuss @EW’s picture of preference to represent Nicki vs Taylor in their last tweet/article?’ Gabby, whose handle is @freespiritniall, pointed out the irony of the argument by tweeting ‘funny how this is EXACTLY the situation Nicki was trying to address.’ 

Meanwhile, @juanjmireles weighed in, tweeting: ‘@EW hi I’m just wondering why did you guys use a picture of Taylor looking innocent but used to [sic] a picture of Nicki as if she was the worst?’

Though Swift and Minaj do not come from the same categories – country and rap, respectively – in the past few years both women have been focusing more on pop and attracting a more mainstream audience – which means more crossover fans. 

For now, it seems that the dueling divas have made peace. 

‘Huh? U must not be reading my tweets. Didn’t say a word about u,’ Minaj said to Swift. ‘I love u just as much. But u should speak on this.’ 

Powerful performer: Swift, pictured performing at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month as part of her ‘1989’ tour, called Minaj out on Twitter

Heating up: Though Minaj, pictured at the Hot 97 Summer Jam in New Jersey’s MetLife stadium on July 7, did not mention any particular artist many fans assumed that she was talking about Swift

‘If I win, please come up with me!! You’re invited to any stage I’m ever on,’ Swift replied, to which Minaj added: ‘I’m not always confident. Just tired. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it.’

In addition to video of the year, ‘Bad Blood’ was also nominated for best collaboration, direction, editing, visual effects, art direction and cinematography. Her other hit, ‘Blank Space,’ which boasts 1 billion views on YouTube, is nominated for best female video and pop video. 

Other nominees for video of the year include Beyonce’s 7/11, Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud and Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk.

Meanwhile, Anaconda earned VMA nominations for best female video and hip-hop video, and Minaj is also up for an award for best collaboration for ‘Bang Bang’ with Ariana Grande and Jessie J.

Miley Cyrus will host the 2015 VMAs, which will air live August 30 from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.