Journalists apologise for criticising Blue Ivy Carter's appearance

Two US journalists have been taken to task over their criticism of the appearance ofBeyoncé's daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.

The drama began after Houston, Texas, rapper Meghan Thee Stallion shared Instagram photos of herself celebrating New Year's Eve with the Lemonade singer, 38, and Blue Ivy, seven.

In the photos, a grinning Blue Ivy was seriously twinning with her famous mum, who air-kissed for the camera. Blue Ivy's father is hip-hop mogul Jay-Z.

Many of Beyoncé's fans showered the pics with praise, as they marked the beautiful young woman Blue Ivy is growing into. After seeing the photos, Vanity Fair critic K. Austin Collins write in a since-deleted tweet, "I have a feeling the jay z face genes are about to really hit Blue Ivy and I feel so sorry for her."

Harper's Bazaar web editor Violet Lucca replied in a now-deleted message, "Or she'll just get plastic surgery at 16 a la Kylie Jenner and we'll all have to pretend that she always looked that way…I can't allow myself to feel too sorry for the incredibly rich!"

Both journos were criticised on social media for commenting on the appearance of a child, which promoted Collins to issue the following apology: "I'm sorry about the Blue Ivy tweet — bad joke, and black girls in particular deserve better," Collins wrote.

In a separate tweet, responding to a person who chastised him, he added, "No, you're right. Poor form on my end. Thanks all for calling it out."

Conversely, Lucca's response appeared to addressed those who attacked her.

Responding to one Twitter user, she wrote, "Sorry I was cleaning my apartment while this blew up. Children of famous ought to be off limits, but time and again they haven’t been. So I said something petty and have been called ugly, old, and a racist."

She continued, "I'm not playing the victim… sorry that I insulted Beyoncé’s daughter by suggesting that she might get plastic surgery some day, like many children of famous people do."