Justin Bieber and Post Malone make light of choking incident

Justin Bieber has made light of a photo which showed him being held at the throat by rapper Post Malone.

Earlier this week (end15Apr16) pictures emerged of Bieber stubbing a cigarette out on Malone's arm and the rapper grabbing the Where Are You Now? singer round the throat in a Houston nightclub.

The photos provoked a furious response from fans on social media but the rapper, who is a support act on Justin's Purpose tour, insists they are good friends and his choke hold on the Canadian star was just part of a play fight.

"i (sic) love Justin y'all tripping lol," he writes on Twitter. "he's my big brother and we like to rough house. if we was fighting someone would have done something instead of just sit around while the beibs gets chokeslammed. end of story i love jus more than life."

Bieber also mocked the incident by posting a picture of himself choking Malone, real name Austin Post, on Instagram.

The Texas raised rapper's support slot on the Purpose tour comes after a year which has seen him experience a meteoric rise.

Last year (15) his debut single White Iverson made it to number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and his music was used by Kanye West for his fashion show Yeezy Season 3.

He also appears on West's new album The Life of Pablo and is currently working on his own record with legendary rap producer Rick Rubin.

Malone is scheduled to support Bieber for the majority of the North American leg of his tour, which ends with a gig at New York's Madison Square Garden on 19 July (16).