Halsey has hit out at criticism for not ''claiming her black side''.

The 25-year-old singer has been taking part in protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, but was subjected to a backlash over the language she uses about the subject, despite being biracial.

A Twitter user wrote in a now-deleted post: ''Notice how @Halsey never claims her black side, but she 'supports.' Stop being ignorant. She's never claimed her Black side. This is why I will NEVER support her. On her post she says 'let black ppl speak,' not 'let our ppl speak.' Nah, f**k her (sic)''

In response, the 'Without Me' hitmaker explained she feels she is ''white passing'' and though she is ''in pain'', as a result she doesn't think it is her ''place'' to use the word 'we' because she doesn't feel in danger because of her ethnicity.

She wrote: ''im white passing. it's not my place to say 'we.' it's my place to help. i am in pain for my family, but nobody is gonna kill me based on my skin color.

'''I've always been proud of who I am but it'd be an absolute disservice to say 'we' when I'm not susceptible to the same violence.(sic)''

Halsey has previously admitted she has found it ''weird'' growing up with a white mother and a black father.

She said in 2017: ''I look like a white girl, but I don't feel like one. I'm a black woman. It's been weird navigating that.''

She jokingly added: ''When I was growing up, I didn't know if I was supposed to love TLC or Britney.''