The X Factor team have responded to Misha B’s claim that she was the focus of a false narrative of bullying during her time on the show, while former judge Tulisa Contostavlos has said that her actions on the show were not “racially motivated.”
Misha, 28, said she was left “feeling suicidal” after Tulisa, 31, and fellow judge Louis Walsh accused her of victimising other contestants after a live performance.
In an hour-long Instagram video, the singer, who was 19 when she competed on the show in 2011, said that Walsh, 67, accused her of being “over-confident” and alleged that Tulisa had made a “scripted” critique of her behaviour.
“Feisty, and mean, [Tulisa] threw,” Misha said. “She then went on to say some of things I say came across quite mean. This woman spent zero time with me.”
She added: “At that moment, the whole world stopped.
“I just remember, I was on the coach on my own. I just remember thinking of ways to end my own life, ways I could just end the pain.”
Responding to the allegations, an X Factor spokesperson said: “We are very concerned to hear Misha’s comments regarding her experience on The X Factor in 2011.
“We are currently looking into this matter and are reaching out to Misha to discuss the important issues she has raised.
“The welfare of contestants is our priority and we are committed to diversity and equality.”
Tulisa replied to the claims in an Instagram video, telling viewers that her comments “had nothing to do with race” and that any suggestion that they did would be “ludicrous.”
“I’m not taking away from how Misha feels, I accept that she is entitled to her opinion and I’m sorry if she feels that the situation was racially motivated,” she said.
“I can only speak from my side of the situation which is that it 100 per cent was not.”
She added that she regretted “calling [Misha] out publicly” and admitted that she would not behave in the same way today as she “is more emotionally intelligent and has more life experience.”
She continued: “It’s nothing to do with race. I didn’t wake up and go, ‘I want to cause some drama for Misha B because of the colour of her skin.’
“She did some things that I felt I needed to pull her up on. These things were real and they were happening.”
In the second part of the video, she claimed: “I owe my life to black people and to black culture, from my career to the music I make to my very being, who I am as a person.”
Walsh, whose representatives were contacted by Standard Online when Misha release her video, is yet to respond to the allegations.
