James Arthur has always been a weird one. In terms of The X Factor, he was an unlikely winner. And in terms of behaving himself for the PR machine that comes with being on Simon Cowell's books, he's almost consistently been wearing a dunce's hat, constantly getting into spats and generally being a press disaster in Twitter.
Well all of that has come to an end, after he announced on Saturday night that he was quitting Twitter following a spat with Frankie Boyle, saying:
#LOVE to my fans but I'm coming off twitter for good. HQ will be doing all my tweets from now on. PEACE!
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) November 16, 2013
And why was he rowing with the acid-tongued comedian in the first place? Maybe something to do with calling a rapper by the name of Mickey Worthless 'a f*cking queer' on a 'diss track' online, which he was forced to apologise for later by his management in a long series of tweets, which read:
I just have to say I’m extremely disappointed in myself for being so naive with the diss track I made for an unknown rapper recently
I Would just like to make it completely clear that it was not meant in anyway as a reference to homosexuality.
I realise where the term has come from in meaning..but used in the context of the rap battles I have grown up with it has come to mean something completely different.. That said, I understand why it could cause offence and that definitely wasn't my intention...
Some of the things said in this rap can be mistaken for homophobic slurs and I assure you homophobia is something I do not believe in.
I have many many gay friends. In rap feuds/rap disses the words I used have a different intent. This is a straight man I was attacking. A straight man who littered his track with severe homophobic slurs towards me.. Like I said though it was a rap diss ..
And in no way a reflection of my true character.. I've heard I've offended Matt Lucas who's work I have always admired and that is a blow.
Deeply deeply sorry to any gay or lesbian people out there. Plus Rylan is one of my best mates and he is as gay as they come! #LOVE.
The old 'but my best friend is gay/black/etc.' excuse. How sincere.
Anyway, the real juice here is the barbs between Arthur and Boyle, whose back and forth went as follows.
@frankieboyle Haha still hilarious I see. You aren't wrong Frankie I didn't do well at school. Congratulations.
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) November 16, 2013
@frankieboyle it's one of the many demons in your mind telling you to insult everybody in the hope of feeling somewhat important. I Luv u x
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) November 16, 2013
@frankieboyle I thought you were the grammar police? That comment was terribly written Frankie. Funny you should mention my profile picture.
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) November 16, 2013
@JamesArthur23 Well you look like a post-op Miley Cyrus, so why not get it on? Oh, that's right, because of your rampant homophobia.
— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) November 16, 2013
@frankieboyle haha how original with the teeth thing. Note to self: sort teeth! Must sort teeth!! Your an old washed up nerd with poor jokes
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) November 16, 2013
.@JamesArthur23 Nb; Battle raps usually rhyme. Try it. Eg. Arthur goes with carcrash/disaster/ classless arsehole and even "gay hate slur".
— Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) November 16, 2013
Let's be honest though. The X Factor's been on a sliding scale of 'meh' since The Golden Year of One Direction, Cher Lloyd, Rebecca Ferguson, Mary Byrne (and yes that year's winner Matt Cardle). James Arthur was just lucky that he entered in a year with a decidedly poor pool of fellow contestants that no one really cared about, and that's why he managed to win.
So hopefully this is the beginning of him fading into obscurity. Heard from from Steve Brookstein lately? No. Fingers crossed Arthur follows suit.