Nicki Minaj and Cher’s legions of fans came out to defend their icons after a misconstrued tweet set the social-networking service on fire.

It all began with a single tweet that Cher received. “@cher did you know thatbitch @NICKIMINAJ dissed you in her song DIDITONEM,” asked one fan.

The “diss” was in reference to Nicki’s Pink Friday song “Did It On’em,” where she raps, “If you could turn back time, Cher/ You used to be here, now you’re gone, Nair.”

The 65-year-old Oscar winner shot back, “Ive seen lots of people come & go! Nobiggie!”

That was enough to put Team Minaj on alert, including Nicki’s friend and associate Scaff Beezy, who wrote, “yo @cher listen to the words b4 you say dumb shit on twitter… do you know what a rap metaphore is??? TM is a cult you dont want it with!!”

After being informed that the song was not a diss, Cher admitted fault. “U R right ! Someone said I was dissed..I’ve been dissed b4,but instead of finding out I just got defensive ! I should know better,” she wrote before deleting the tweets.

Nicki eventually got wind of the incident, simply tweeting to Cher, “#stopit5.”

A transcript of the Twitter dialogue can be seen below (courtesy of Karim).