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“Completely unacceptable”: X Factor NZ sacks judges

2 judges sacked after NZ judge accused a contestant of copying the image of her husband.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU9H_e6PDi8

TV3 has sacked two judges on The X Factor NZ after they blasted a contestant’s attire, saying he had copied the image of a fellow judge -who also happens to be her husband.

Audience members booed when Natalia Kills and Willy Moon both criticised singer Joe Irvine, branding him a “laughing stock”, and evening likening him to Psycho character, Norman Bates.

Irvine had performed Cry Me a River, but was praised by the show’s remaining judges Australian Idol winner Stan Walker and Melanie Blatt.

“Last night on X Factor both Kills and Moon made comments that were completely unacceptable. While the judges on X Factor are expected to provide critiques of the performances, we will not tolerate such destructive tirades from any of the judges,” MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon said.

“Contestants put their all into this competition and they should expect to receive feedback and criticism that is professional and constructive. We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of X Factor judges and they will leave the show, effective immediately.”

Producers FremantleMedia Australia said it was supportive of the decision to sack the pair.

“We are appalled at the very poor judgement and intention shown by Natalia Kills and Willy Moon,” its director of programming, Jonathon Summerhayes, said.

“We 100 per cent support TV3 and MediaWorks in their decision to remove them.

The X Factor does not tolerate the behaviour they displayed last night.”

Two new judges will take over Moon and Kills’ teams from next week, he said.

UK-born Kills is best known for the song Trouble and Saturday Night.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

29 Responses

  1. These two so called “judges” were just pathetic. They seem to think that they are more important and more talented than they actually are. They just made fools of themselves and gained a huge sympathy vote for the poor contectant that they bullied and abused to make themselves feel more important. They deserved to go!

  2. Who are these people anyway?I’ve never heard of either of them,and after the way they carried on i don’t want to know them anyway.The producers made the right decision to sack them,but as someone said,the host of the show should have stepped in and stopped them before their rants went too far.It was a horrible thing to watch.

  3. They say it’s “completely unacceptable” yet nobody jumped in stopped her/him? They just patiently waited for them to finish their nonsensical tirades.

  4. I just love the way she is basically slagging off her husbands career. It’ll be interesting to see who they get at such short notice to replace them – bet Geri Halliwell is on a flight already!

  5. It was absolutely appalling and i am glad they have sacked these 2 over this. Sure we’ve had mean judges here before but this has crossed the line by far. They were just cruel comments.

  6. Copying your husband! My dear, Frank Sinatra and his crew were in better suits and had slicker hair long before you and your husband were born. Oh, and they could actually sing too. Just saying

  7. Really disgusted about the stupid, rubbish comments made by the two judges on NZ TV. Look again – another controversy in under one week with Jeremy Clarkson fracas.

  8. I’ve been a fan of Natalia Kills since her single ‘Mirrors’ and I’ve loved her since. She’s was always my second fav female artists, but now I’ve just lost respect for her and will not be able to listen to her music without remembering how nasty she is. I don’t understand why Her & Willy would be nasty and think they’re above anyone because neither of them have had any stand-out hits and they aren’t very popular – less so now. Your music might be good but what makes a good artist is personality too and yours sucks.

  9. What’s worse is all the guys going to work in a suit – I’m embarrassed for those people with no style and engaging in intellectual property theft.

  10. My first reaction when I read the article on buzzfeed was “Who is Natalia Kills and Willy Moon”.

    My second reaction when I watch the video was “oh wow I’m embarrassed watching this, they are both behaving like A-Grade $%&wits” spoilt Z-Grade celebrities.

    My third reaction after watching a youtube video of a Natalia Kills and Willy Moon’s video clips is – how can they both be so harsh and judgmental when the product they’ve spewed out is a ‘doppelganger’ of almost every generic pop song I’ve ever heard…. and both are really quite terrible.

    I don’t think any public apology will really assist in fixing their reputation in NZ at least…. the critique was absolutely horrible, rude and downright nasty – it isn’t even a comment taken out of context.

  11. While Nathan’s comment below is probably directed at the 2 fired judges, the same could be said of Stan Walker, who I’m shocked is apparently qualified enough to judge a singing contest. What next? The winner of a reality tv show automatically judges the next series!

    1. Stan Walker has had three top 10 albums and eight top 10 singles since 2009 in NZ. More achievements than Natalia Kills and Willy Moon put together over there.

      1. Fair call re: the NZ qualifications, as that is where the show is based. His last 2 LPs have completely bombed (a grand total of 2 weeks in the top 50) here in Oz and that’s what was coming to mind.

  12. I heard a lot of hype about how disgusting and vile their comments were before I watched the video, so part of me truly thought it was just going to be media hyperbole… But wow… Their comments are just cruel, immature and plain disgusting indeed. I actually felt a little sick watching it.

  13. It goes to show that a couple of years in the entertainment industry doesn’t qualify you as a judge on a reality show, no real experience and what sort of mentors to the contestant could you be? “Well guys you just need to win the competition, sell some records locally and in a couples years you could be standing where I am”

  14. So funny… who are these two?! It’s hilarious that a man dressed in a suit could be accused of stealing someone else’s persona. This clip made my day. Perhaps they’ll drift back into obscurity now… or worse.. their careers in NZ will be cemented and that will be their lofty heights reached!

  15. Wow! Holy hell. Just when I thought I’d seen it all. There must be some background to their hate of this contestant, no?! I can’t believe Natalia Kills is even on there!

  16. I misphrased what I meant to say in my first paragprah, was meaning to say Kills saying she was ‘sick’ and ‘disgusted’ was OTTand too far

    Ratings for the show are not great either, only 300,000 people tuned in. According to Throng NZ that is not great

  17. The comments by the judges were unacceptable, one of them said she was feeling sick and disgusted at the sight of one of the contestants just because he was wearing a suit similar to her husband. Reading them in full gives a better picture

    This story is being picked up by international media

    Our Aus judges for X Factor and The Voice have never acted anywhere near as bad

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