Swift and Minaj got into a war of words on social media after the hip-hop hitmaker appeared to take aim at the pop star after her Bad Blood promo landed a Video of the Year nomination and Anaconda didn't.

Minaj suggested her video was snubbed for the top prize because it didn't feature "women with very slim bodies", prompting Swift to respond, "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..."

The feud rumbled on throughout Tuesday with Minaj insisting she was not singling out Swift or her video in her remarks, with Swift eventually trying to make peace by urging Minaj to join her onstage at the awards show next month (Aug15) if she wins. Then, on Thursday (23Jul15), Swift issued an apology.

A message on Twitter.com reads: "I thought I was being called out. I missed the point, I misunderstood, then misspoke. I'm sorry, Nicki. @NICKIMINAJ".

Accepting Swift's apology, Minaj responds, "That means so much Taylor, thank you".

She adds, "I've always loved her. Everyone makes mistakes. She gained so much more respect from me (for realising she was wrong). Let's move on."

Meanwhile, Swift's pal Ed Sheeran has also offered up an apology to Minaj after he jumped to his pal's defence on Wednesday (22Jul15), telling 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."

He added, "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 insists his comments were taken out of context.

He now says, "I was making a point about body image and not race, whilst sticking up for a mate, I definitely said it wrong though, apologies."