Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has been slammed for continuing to perform while one of her backup dancers suffered a seizure behind her on stage.

Azalea was in the middle of singing Black Widow at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium when the dancer collapsed.

“Somebody put the medic up here,” Azalea said.

But she did not halt the song, instead turning back to the crowd while the other backup dancers converged on their colleague.

After another 15 seconds, the music finally cut out and an eerie silence fell.

Medics eventually drove an ambulance on stage to remove the dancer, who has since recovered.

Some fans blasted Azalea’s reaction to the incident, saying she should have immediately stopped the performance until she knew the dancer was all right.

The singer later addressed that criticism in an Instagram story.

“Hey guys. I just want to let everyone asking know my dancer is OK. The lights and heat caused her to have a seizure. She is backstage feeling much better,” she said.

“Also, for what it’s worth in regards to the backup dancer. One, I thought she had just fallen/twisted her ankle. And it may sound harsh, but you keep singing until the music stops and ask for a medic, which is what I did.

“Two, we are all really shaken up by what happened and just thankful she is OK.

“Three, I know it’s easy to make memes of someone ‘passed out’ but someone have a seizure isn’t funny, it’s really scary! I hope my fans do not repost some of the memes I’m seeing about my dancer.”

Azalea then launched into an anguished message to her fans, saying she feels “worn down” by the constant criticism she faces.

“Sometimes I really feel exhausted by the world, it feels like anything I do becomes an opportunity for people to tell me why I’m s***, why my music sucks, my clothes are ugly, why I don’t matter or why I’m a horrible person,” she said.

“I’m worn down. The last four years are just me existing in a world where I can do nothing right and it’s hard not to feel like ‘what’s the point’ and keep motivated.

“Everyone is just trying to make it through their day. Could we be a little kinder to each other? Seeing how much people enjoy being awful to one another is depressing.”