Joss Stone has hit out at a section of the media which has ridiculed her Americanised accent.
The soul singer, who broke out of her West Country background in 2006 to become a major name, says she doesn't care if UK fans don't care for her accent, which came to light when she presented an award at the 2007 Brit Awards.
The 20-year-old said, "At the end of the day, I don't give a f**k if people have a problem with my accent. That's all I can say about it. The words I say do not change."
"If the way that it sounds is skew-whiff and you don't like it, don't listen. I'm not being a cruel person by sounding a different way."
"I made my album with a bunch of Americans. When people go to Australia for two weeks they come back sounding Australian - but the whole world doesn't turn round and say, 'Well, f**k you.' Which is basically what England had done."
"Obviously not everybody in England. But the big press people. They were just like, 'You know what? We've decided we don't like you anymore.'"
