American singer Madison Beer has denied claims that she arranged a photoshoot at a Black Lives Matter protest, after receiving criticism for “performance activism” online. She was at a protest in Los Angeles when a photographer called Josh, who uses the Instagram handle @jvshvisions, took snaps of her posing on top of a car, holding a ‘No freedom until we’re equal’ sign.

The photographer in question has previously pictured Madison and many other celebrities, such as Kendall Jenner and Justin Bieber, going about their daily lives in the city. However, after these particular images of Madison were shared online they were met with a huge amount of frustration and upset from those who believed she could be using a vital moment in history for self-promotion.

Some Twitter users were also quick to point out that other celebrities, such as Ariana Grande, have been out protesting but managed to avoid being pictured by the paparazzi.

It’s understandable that there would be upset – as this cause should only be used to highlight the hugely important issues at play, and never be used as a tool for self-promotion. But Madison has strongly denied – when it comes her actions – that this is not the case.

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Tweeting screenshots of a conversation she had with Josh, Madison added: “I did not lie. This photographer is spreading unclear information about me. These are our messages. I will not allow anyone to make me protesting day after day into something it is NOT. I am out here for one reason only. I will not allow it to be spun into something it never was.”

The photographer is shown to say in the message “I’m not sure why people think that when it’s clearly untrue” and said he was “being sarcastic” when he told press the pictures were staged.