Tulisa Contostavlos has hit back at accusations from X Factor star Misha B that she was part of scripted bullying and sabotage ‘storyline’ in 2011.
On Sunday, Misha, who was just 19 when she appeared on the singing competition, shared a clip of one of her tense moments with the then-judge before appearing on an Instagram Live where she claimed the spat was racially motivated.
The N-Dubz star, 31, has now hit back, as she took to the photosharing site in the early hours of Tuesday morning to share an impassioned message in which she insisted to followers: ‘I do not have a racist bone in my body’.
Responding: Tulisa Contostavlos has hit back at accusations from X Factor star Misha B that she was part of scripted bullying and sabotage ‘storyline’ in 2011
In her original post, Misha B, who was a favourite to win under the guidance of judge Kelly Rowland, accused the ITV show of scripting a bullying ‘storyline’ to sabotage her chances at winning the competition.
During the third live show, judges Tulisa and Louis Walsh accused Misha of being a bully, which left her feeling suicidal. She shared a clip of the bullying row and wrote that she has ‘received many calls and messages regarding this incident.’
Later, during an hour-long Instagram Live, Misha claimed that X Factor producers told the judges to accuse her of bullying other contestants, leading to Tulisa and Louis calling her ‘feisty’ ‘over-confident’ and ‘mean,’ live on air.
Clearly upset by the accusations, Tulisa took to social media to respond to Misha, as she shared a video which denied any racist accusations while also apologising for how she handled the incident – while maintaining claims of Misha’s poor behaviour.
Star: Misha was just 19 when she appeared on the singing competition in 2011, and was a favourite to win under the guidance of judge Kelly Rowland
She wrote: ‘So I’m making this video in response to a video Misha B has done, and also false accusations online. I’m not taking away from the fact of how she feels…
‘I accept that she is entitled to her opinion and I’m sorry that she feels that situation was racially motivated… I can only speak from my side of the story which I can say it 100% was not. One thing I regret is calling her out publicly which I did…
‘If I was the person I am today, as somebody who is more emotionally intelligent who has more life experience, I would have handled in a different way…
‘I am truly sorry for that and I regret it. For her to make claims that it was racially motivated is ludicrous. There had been an accumulation of things that Misha had done to other contestants and my contestants backstage…
‘She made two of my acts cry – one of them being on the night I made those comments. After that, backstage she asked me: “Why did you do it?” and I said: “Why did you do what you did to my acts?”…
Row: During the third live show, judges Tulisa Contostavlos and Louis Walsh accused Misha of being a bully live on air, claims which Misha says left her suicidal
‘To this day i didn’t find her excuse feasible. I still don’t agree with it. I called a lot of people out on that show – white, black, short, tall. It’s nothing to do with skin colour…
‘I was protecting my acts and if somebody does some nasty stuff – whether it’s on that show or not, I’m gonna call her out on it. I didn’t wake up that day and think I’m gonna call Misha out because of the colour of her skin…
‘She did some things that I felt I needed to pull her up one. They were real and happening. I was dealing with crying contestants. I’m sure she’s not the same person. This was 10 years ago. Same as I’m not the same person who would call her out the way I did. I was a very feisty 22-year-old…
‘I didn’t think of emotional consequences but I can tell you race wasn’t in the equation. It had nothing to do with race these accusations are ludicrous…
Traumatic: Misha said she felt like ‘my whole world stopped,’ after the incident live on air, before she went backstage and cried
‘I owe my life to black people and black culture. From my career, to the music I make, to my very being, who I am as a person. I was the only white person in my friendship group, my father was raised in the Congo till he was 16…
‘I’m very passionate about Black Lives Matter and when I spoke to my friend about what I should do they told me to get educated and that’s what I’m going to do before I speak out…
‘I hope this movement can put an end to the centuries of oppression, of abuse of racism and corrupt system we are part of. Please believe me when I tell you that I do not have a racist bone in my body.’
She added a caption on the video reading: ‘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.’
In Misha’s original video, she said: ‘Seeing the continuous mistreatment of my brothers and sisters all around the world has reawakened the PTSD that I have worked tirelessly to uproot and I know I do not stand alone on this.’
‘Scripted’: During an hour-long Instagram Live, Misha claimed that X Factor producers told the judges to accuse her of bullying other contestants, leading to Tulisa and Louis calling her ‘feisty’ ‘over-confident’ and ‘mean,’ live on air
‘In 2011 what I thought at the time would be the best opportunity for me, turned out to be the most painful experience of my life.’
‘What you see in this video is 1% of what I endured. They saw an opportunity to tear down a black girl that came from a broken home and worked together to assassinate my character and to sabotage my career by orchestrating lies.’
Later, during an hour-long Instagram Live, Misha claimed that X Factor producers told the judges to accuse her of bullying other contestants, leading to Tulisa and Louis calling her ‘feisty’ ‘over-confident’ and ‘mean,’ live on air.
‘I could feel Louis was on verbal violence. Louis has then said something about me being confident, but then he says maybe I’m too over confident. Let me just make this very clear, these judges spent a maximum of 1 per cent time with me and their contestants, apart from Gary [Barlow] and Kelly [Rowland],’ Misha said.
Misha continued: ‘My understanding is you created this whole narrative of me being over confident because I’m black and in your eyes black girls should not be confident, black girls are just one off.’
Referencing Louis’ comparisons of her to other black singers, she said: ‘You look like a young Tina Turner, you look like a young Chaka Khan, why is it always we have to look like someone else? Why is there always a comparison for black women? I am tired, I am tired, I am tired.’
Moving onto Tulisa, Misha accused the judge of having ‘every line scripted before she even opened up her mouth’
”Feisty’ she threw, followed by ‘mean,’ common words used to describe black women. This woman spent zero time with me,’ Misha claimed, adding that the next day both Tulisa and Louis apologised.
‘The only conversation this woman [Tulisa] had with me was after this happened when she gave me a halfhearted apology.’
Misha said she felt like ‘my whole world stopped,’ after the incident live on air, before she went backstage and cried. Later, the singer said she had suicidal thoughts, telling her fans:
‘When all those allegations happened … I remember of thinking up ways to end my own life. I remember of thinking up ways that I could end the pain. That was the first time in my whole life I ever felt suicidal.