Justin Bieber defends Kylie Jenner over Instagram controversy

Justin Bieber has come to the defence of his pal Kylie Jenner after Amandla Stenberg took aim at the reality TV star for her cornrow hairstyle.

Kim Kardashian's younger half-sister took to Instagram.com on Saturday (11Jul15) to post a photo of herself with the freshly braided tresses, adding the caption, "I woke up like disss (this)."

Although the photo garnered more than one million 'likes', The Hunger Games star Stenberg decided to call out Jenner's appearance and wrote, "When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur (your) position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur (your) wigs instead of police brutality or racism".

Jenner hit back at 16-year-old Stenberg, replying, "Mad if I don't. Mad if I do... Go hang w Jaden or something," referring to her longtime friend and rumoured ex-boyfriend Jaden Smith, who was Stenberg's date to her high school prom earlier this year (15).

Now Bieber is wading into the controversy, writing, "Guys leave her alone, were all trying to figure it out and she happens to be under a microscope! I'm the first to know this. But saying she's being racist because she wants her hair in braids is ridiculous. lets focus on the bigger picture and instead of fighting over something stupid lets do something about equality, but it doesn't start here blasting a 17 year old kid for wearing braids smh (shaking my head)."

Meanwhile, after Stenberg's comments went viral, the actress posted another response on Instagram, writing, "Black features are beautiful. Black women are not. White women are paragons of virtue and desire. Black women are objects of fetishism and brutality. This, at least, seems to be the mentality surrounding black femininity and beauty in a society built upon eurocentric beauty standards. While white women are praised for altering their bodies, plumping their lips, and tanning their skin, black women are shamed although the same features exist on them naturally.

"This double standard is one string in the netting that surrounds black female sexuality - a web that entraps black women when they claim sexual agency. Deeply ingrained into culture is the notion that black female bodies, at the intersect of oppression, are less than human and therefore unattractive. They are symbols of pain, trauma, and degradation. Often when they are sexualized, it is from a place of racial fetishism."