In a week in which James Arthur’s brand has come crashing down around him, the singer has cancelled all engagements.
In a very public meltdown this week; where James Arthur released a homophobic ‘diss’ rap, his Twitter account was on management lock down, a public row with Frankie Boyle and a spat with Lucy Spraggan, the X Factor winner has been instructed by his doctor to ‘rest for several days.’
A statement released today said:
“James would like to apologise to his fans for any disappointment caused to them by these cancellations,” it added.
“He hopes to get back to full health as soon as possible.”
Arthur who won last year’s X Factor has apologised to the gay community after an argument on Twitter in which he used the homophobic slur ‘You F**king Queer’ in a rap.
The singer was responding to an underground rapper, Micky Worthless, who criticised Arthur’s decision to enter X Factor in 2012. Arthur responded with a rap which included the gay slur, โYou f**king queerโ.
Lucy Spraggan, who is openly gay, shared texts sent to her from the singer who is now mired in controversy.
The text to the Tea and Toast singer, who shared the message via Twitter, said:
โLucy what are you playing at having digs at me?
โIs it coz youโre a gay rights activist you had to say something as extreme as โpeople kill themselves every day over words like queerโ are you for real?
โYou not think youโre being a bit over the top? Do you want attention or something? Sorry I didnt tweet youโre album link Iโve been busy but you didnโt need to be so two faced [all sic].โ
He then told her to โf**k offโ with her โcareer sh**eโ and then said: โReal people donโt care.โ
To which Spraggan replied with a text saying:
โReal people are people you arsehole.โ
The text Ping-Pong ended with Arthur suggesting that Spraggan was โtwo facedโ and should โdisappearโ to which she suggested: โI think youโll do that far before I do.โ
She then tweeted:
โAnd that was tweeted because it has to be f**kng said. Dick.โ
James Arthur momentarily took control of his Twitter account to tweet:
‘Keep the witch hunt coming motherf**kers. Be a sheep or do some homework. I’m off again lol #LOVE enjoy HQ gettin my lyrics wrong ๐ x’
So is this it for James Arthur? Can he recover from this?