An Oscar-winning actress is firing back after becoming embroiled in a Twitter controversy over a reference to the N-word, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Gwyneth Paltrow, who won an Oscar for “Shakespeare in Love” in 1999, stepped into it on Friday while she was with her friend Beyonce at a concert in Paris by Jay-Z and Kanye West, the story reports. Another concert goer, producer Terius Nash (aka The Dream), tweeted a photo of Paltrow dancing onstage, and Paltrow tweeted in response: “Ni**as in paris for real.”

The story reports: “Instant reaction was that Paltrow had no business tweeting the N-word (Paltrow personally inserted the asterisks into the word), but we have to ask — who doesn’t know that ‘Ni**as In Paris’ is the title of a hit Jay-Z and Kanye song?”

Paltrow echoed those sentiments in another tweet in response to the controversy, writing: "Hold up. It’s the title of the song."

Further complicating the situation, Nash defended Paltrow and took “credit” for the original tweet, sending a message to his followers saying: "Fyi Sorry for the [confusion] I typed Ni**as in paris for real from Gwens Phone my bad … please excuse it! We were lit!"

The incident has triggered debate focused on whether it’s acceptable to use the word given its context as a song title, the story notes.

Gwyneth Paltrow