Singer Tulisa Contostavlos has issued a second apology for the way she treated Misha B on The X Factor, but also denied accusations of racism once more.
Contostavlos, a former judge on the show, responded after Misha said an “angry black girl” narrative was forced on her during the show’s eighth series in 2011.
Misha B says she was diagnosed with PTSD after the show, and the experience left her suffering from suicidal thoughts.
“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,” she said.
X @iammisha_bMisha added: “I know that I’m not the only one who has heard those words – feisty, mean… These are common words people use to describe black women.”
Contostavlos told Misha during the show: “You being so feisty can come across quite mean.”
After initially responding last week, Contostavlos has now issued a full statement.
She wrote on Instagram: “It’s been hard to find the words or know whether to speak at all, but I don’t want to leave things on the note of my last post.
Please join me on Instagram live tonight @ 9pm where I will be talking about my experiences further. I want to make it clear that I share my truth only to educate and uplift. LOVE, m i S h a“I can see clearly that a black female was and is still hurt by my actions on The X Factor. That became overshadowed in my mind last week.”
Describing the backlash to her initial response, she said: “It was more of a reaction to online violent/ death threats to me & my family & people telling me to kill myself.”
After explaining how she apologised separately to Misha, she said: “I fully acknowledge the pain I caused and fully accept people should be angry about it. I can state again there was nothing racial in my thought process.
“When I referred to Misha as being feisty and competitive that was a reflection of myself because I saw myself in Misha.
“We are both very strong women and when I communicate with people I always jump to what I have in common to find a basis to connect.”
She added: ” I totally understand that it made Misha feel a certain way. “As a young black girl hearing it from a young white girl on a huge platform, living in the oppressed society we do, full of racial slurs and undertones, not knowing my thought process.”
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