Doja Cat Alienates Fans By Rebuking Nickname 'Kittenz' Ahead of Tour

Doja Cat appears to be opening up a can of tough love on her staunchest fans -- rebuking a pet name they've given themselves ... and telling them to grow the hell up.

The rapper/singer has been getting some side-eye from her loyal supporters over the past few days -- and it all appears to have come to a head this weekend when she shot down a term a lot of them use ... which is kind of in the vein of Nicki Minaj stans.

Of course, we're referring to the Barbz -- something Nicki seems to have embraced with open arms ... but the same can't be said for Doja and her "Kittenz." It's a phrase some of her fans have affectionately used to brand themselves as followers of hers, but DC's telling them to drop it ... and more importantly, to get a life!

In a since-deleted tweet, Doja wrote ... "my fans don’t name themselves s***. if you call yourself a 'kitten' or f***ing 'kittenz' that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house."

There are other since-deleted tweets where she's telling fans of hers to delete their account if they're even referencing her in their profile pic or username ... and yeah, it's a bit combative.

On the one hand -- Doja crapping on the fandom is a refreshing assessment/slam of "stan" culture -- which has run rampant among some of the biggest artists out there (Swifties, Barbz, Harries, Beyhive etc.) But it's also jarringly honest ... so much so, in fact, Doja appears to be rubbing her "kittenz" the wrong way -- to the point they're kinda turning on her now.

You can hop into the Doja Cat trend for yourself to see how people are responding ... but it would seem they're not feeling Doja's hot-and-cold approach to being an A-list celeb. Sometimes she's very warm/welcoming, other times -- she's off-putting and cold. Her timeline and Twitter replies certainly suggest as much, anyway.

Here's hoping Doja can make nice with her potential ticket-buyers soon ... 'cause she's got a tour coming up in the Fall, and she's been promoting it like crazy.