Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran's prank Twitter feud

Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran face off in a fake Twitter feud.

Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran have staged a fake Twitter spat.

The 29-year-old R&B star and singer/songwriter Sheeran have recreated the dispute between Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj over the latter's failure to receive more nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards by contriving an argument of their own.

Bruno tweeted: "Yo I want in on this twitter Beef!! VMAs is the new WWF!! @edsheeran F*** You! SHOW YOURSELF!!! @edsheeran (sic)"

SHOW YOURSELF!!! @edsheeran https://t.co/J07BphUedV

— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) July 22, 2015

And Sheeran was happy to rise to the challenge, warning his pop rival he would be defeated in the wrestling-style spat.

The 24-year-old Brit said: "Any way we do dis you gon' come up short (sic)."

@BrunoMars any way we do dis you gon' come up short

— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) July 22, 2015

Mars responded: "That Cut deep..U always know how to sheer me to the core. I can't believe we're Sheeran this in public. How dare u! (sic)."

That Cut deep..U always know how to sheer me to the core. I can't believe we're Sheeran this in public. How dare u! https://t.co/fdYOVnlScF

— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) July 22, 2015

@BrunoMars but all my crew know that Bruno has eyebrows dat be uno. And plays Cluedo with SuBo, but you lose coz you blow

— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) July 22, 2015

The spat between Swift and Minaj - which inspired Mars and Sheeran's social media prank - erupted after the hip-hop star bemoaned being nominated for just three VMA awards, with her Feeling Myself promo missing out entirely and Anaconda being overlooked for the top prize, Video of the Year.

Nicki tweeted: "Hey guys @MTV thank you for my nominations. Did Feeling Myself miss the deadline or...?

Hey guys @MTV thank you for my nominations. 😘😘😘 Did Feeling Myself miss the deadline or...?

— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

"If I was a different 'kind' of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well.

If I was a different "kind" of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well. 😊😊😊

— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

"When the 'other' girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination.

When the "other" girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

"If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year.

If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

"I'm not always confident. Just tired. Black women influence pop culture so much but are rarely rewarded for it (sic)."

Swift - who received nine nominations in total, including for Video of the Year and Best Female - felt the tweets were aimed at her due to her Bad Blood promo being up for Video of the Year and replied: "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."

However, the duo have since reconciled their differences and Taylor has even invited Nicki to join her on stage at the VMAs.

- Bang! Showbiz