Ed Sheeran defends Taylor Swift in Nicki Minaj dispute

Ed Sheeran has accused Nicki Minaj of arguing a moot point in her online spat with Taylor Swift, insisting Beyonce's inclusion in the MTV Video Music Awards nominations sinks her complaint that they favour "skinny and white" artists.

The British singer's close friend Swift became embroiled in a Twitter.com war with the rapper after Minaj failed to score as many nods as she hoped and was shut out of the Video of the Year category when the shortlist was announced on Tuesday (21Jul15).

Minaj appeared to launch a thinly-veiled attack on the singer when she tweeted, "If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year (sic)."

The tweet caused a storm, but Sheeran is adamant Minaj's claim is redundant because Beyonce's promo for 7/11 is also included in the top category along with Swift's Bad Blood.

He tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph, "I think everyone knows that Taylor has done nothing wrong in that situation. She didn't nominate herself for the awards. It's not her fault, she just made some good videos and people think they're good. And I think the Minaj point is a bit redundant, her point is that you have to be skinny and white to get a video of the year nomination but Beyonce's 7/11 is in there and that is celebrating the female figure in every form."

Sheeran will also compete in the Video of the Year category for Thinking Out Loud, along with Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars with Uptown Funk and Kendrick Lamar's Alright. The awards will be handed out at a ceremony in Los Angeles on 30 August (15).