tulisa x factor

Tulisa Contostavlos breaks silence over Misha B's X Factor bullying claims

Misha B has had an outpouring of support after detailing her experience on The X Factor

TV & Film Editor
June 16, 2020

Tulisa Contostavlos has responded to Misha B's claims that she was made to look like a bully on The X Factor because of her race. The X Factor contestant said that Tulisa and Louis Walsh's comments during a live show suggesting that she had made "mean" comments to other contestants backstage was part of a negative narrative created for her and was untrue. The singer added that her experience on the show left her suicidal and struggling with PTSD. 

SEE: Sharon Osbourne reveals surprising reason she won't work with Simon Cowell again

WATCH: Tulisa responds to Misha B's claims

Speaking in a video posted on Instagram, she explained: "Feisty, mean, these are the common words people use to describe black women. At that moment I just remember feeling like my whole world stopped... These judges spent about one per cent of the time with me and their contestants, apart from Gary [Barlow] and Kelly [Rowland]. My understanding is you've created this whole narrative of me being overconfident because you are black and black girls are not supposed to be confident."

Misha B spoke about her experiences on the show 

She also said that the nickname 'Misha B' was created for a reason, explaining: "Little did I know this was a part of their corrupted agenda, to play into the 'Misha Bully' that they already orchestrated prior to this. Little did I know." Tulisa posted a video on Instagram in response to Misha on Monday night, which she captioned: "I have witnessed black people being torn down in the industry, especially black women. It is a very real and serious issue. But my issue at that time was a response to actions and was in no way shape or form about race. I have never and will never take part in any oppressive or racist agenda." 

READ: 15 powerful and essential books on racial injustice to add to your reading list

There has been a huge outpouring of support for Misha 

In the video, the former X Factor judge says: "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. I can only speak from my side of the situation which is that it 100 per cent was not. One thing I regret was calling her out publicly the way that I did. If I was the person that I am today, who is more emotionally intelligent and has more life experience, I would have handled it in a very different way and for that, I am truly sorry and I deeply regret. But to say and make claims - and I'm not saying she's doing that, but people are online - that it was racially motivated - is ludicrous." 

READ: Tulisa Contostavlos reveals her secret health battle and struggle with online trolls

Tulisa denied her comments was racially motivated

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." 

Sign up to Off Camera for all the gossip and goings-on from the wonderful world of TV and film

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More TV and Film

See more