Nicki Minaj has sent fans into a frenzy after posting an image of herself in which she appears to be heavily pregnant.

While many of the rapper’s devoted followers insisted the photo had been Photoshopped, others speculated about whether Minaj was in fact pregnant.

The business mogul, who was one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2016, shared a photo of herself in a sheer black vest sporting what appeared to be a baby bump on Instagram.

“ATBIMS. Ya’ll so childish … I was gonna wait to share the news but…” Minaj captioned the image.

ATBIMS is an acronym of “all these b**ches are my sons”.

Some fans sent their congratulations but others immediately claimed the photo was “fake” and had been doctored on Photoshop. One follower even said he had “invented pregnant Nicki edits”.

Minaj has shared photos of herself on the social media site in recent days where she is clearly not pregnant.

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Minaj’s post follows Beyoncé’s recent announcement she is pregnant with twins. Last week, the pop superstar announced she was expecting twins in an Instagram post which has broken the Guinness World Record and officially become the most-liked post in the site's history.

The image shows a heavily pregnant Beyoncé kneeling in front of a massive multicoloured bed of flowers. She is covered by a long green veil and wearing light blue satin knickers and a maroon bra.

Minaj congratulated Beyoncé and Jay Z’s five-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter on becoming a big sister after the announcement. Sharing a photo of their child, she wrote: “This beautiful little lady bug is so smart and special. You guys have no idea! So Dear Blue, you are going to make an AMAZING big sister. Love always, Nicki.”