US R&B singer Mya has hit back at critics who condemned her appearance at a Miami strip club over the weekend.
The star, who enjoyed much success in the Nineties with hits including Case of the Ex and It's All About Me, was slammed for performing at adult nightspot G5IVE in Miami on Saturday by - and not limited to - rapper rapper Bow Wow who suggested the singer must be cash-strapped.
In clips that have been uploaded to Instagram, the 35-year-old gyrated across a stage speckled with dollar bills as she sang “Moving On.” Naturally, everyone and their mama had something to say about the Grammy Award-winning songbird booking an engagement at a strip club–including the 27-year-old, who blasted the Grammy award-winning singer in a series of posts on Facebook.
“I can’t stop laughing at the video my homie sent me of Mya on the stripper stage dancing. I’m like why though? Haha Hell she coulda borrowed that 1500 performance fee from the local D boy if it was that serious,” he wrote.
He added: "Mya is a stripper now? If not who advised that it was smart to perform and dance on the stripper stage.”
According to NecoleBitchie, Mya eventually addressed her critics, saying: “I am whatever I choose to be when I choose to be it. The joy of life. Live it. Been doin’ strip clubs, LGBT clubs, dance clubs, straight clubs, concerts, festivals since 1998 to date. I love all my fans and it don’t stop. Instagram generation is late as hell.”
Since her defiant comments, a number of fans have rushed to her defence, instead directing their ire at Bow Wow and his new fiancée, Erica Mena.
One wrote: "U got room to talk about some one when Ur [girl] is an ex escort worker...boy get it together!"
Another added: "Bow you my boy, but you sound stupid coming for a woman. Then you're the first one calling people haters when they come after yours."
Bow Wow and Mena shocked fans when they announced their engagement back in September 2013. Since then, they have been defending their whirlwind romance and relationship. Their wedding is scheduled for this April.