We all know X Factor judges like to put on a show, but this is just plain mean.
Married X Factor New Zealand judges Natalia Kills and Willie Moon have been fired following a verbal tirade against a contestant on last night’s show.
The pair, who are both professional singers, tore Joe Irvine to shreds, with Kills accusing the young performer of stealing her husband’s look.
“We have a doppelgänger in our midst,” she said.”As an artist who respects creative integrity and intellectual property I am disgusted at how much you have copied my husband.”
“From the hair to the suit – do you not have any value or respect for originality?”
Not content to let his wife speak on his behalf, Moon chimed in with the following: “You look like Norman Bates dressing up in his mother’s clothing. It’s just a little bit creepy and I feel like you’re going to stitch someone’s skin to your face and then kill everybody in the audience.”
The other two judges Melanie Blatt, a former member of All Saints, and Stan Walker winced their way through it and Blatt jumped to Irvine’s defence at the first opportunity.
“You know what Joe, I don’t think many people have believed in you. But I tell you right now, I believe in you,” she said.
TV3 was inundated with complaints over the incident and responded on Twitter last night.
Parent company Mediaworks released a statement today announcing that the couple had been removed from the show as they were “no longer suitable to judge X Factor”. Mediaworks CEO, Mark Weldon, also labelled the comments as “completely unacceptable.” “While the judges on X Factor are expected to provide critiques of performances, we will not tolerate such destructive tirades from any of the judges,” Mr Weldon said. “We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of The X Factor judges, and they will leave the show, effective immediately.” Twitter had some slightly more creative responses.
Stan Walker and Mel Blatt will judge tonight’s show and replacements for Kills and Moon will be announced before next week’s show. Happily, Irvine remained in tact.
Watch the tirade in the video below.
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Top Comments
I was gobsmacked when I watched this. A second after my jaw hit the floor I thought to myself ... "who the F^&* are you and your husband?" Never heard of either of you, never seen you before, never heard your music. They must have really been scraping the bottom of the barrel to get those 2 fools on the show.
I hope they enjoy their trip back to obscurity now - other media outlets have reported that she lost her record contract with her company a couple of months ago. I hope they saved some money, because she's just made them both unemployable. No reputable company will touch them for a while.
Lol...exactly who are these people and what are they famous for?? Never heard of them so clearly they must be talented. Fairly certain your hubby ripped a few legends of yesteryear with his "suit originality"