Misha B calls out 'The X Factor' for pushing an "angry black girl" narrative about her
Misha B, who competed on The X Factor‘s eighth season in 2011, has criticised the producers and judges of the singing competition who she says “created this narrative of me being over-confident because I’m black.”
The singer spoke about her experiences on the show in a video posted to her Instagram, which you can see below.
In the video the singer, full name Misha Amber Bryan, said: “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 […] I was aware that they were going to throw this angry black girl narrative at me.”
During her time on the show Louis Walsh accused her of bullying another contestant, while his fellow judge Tulisa Contostavlos accused her of “being so feisty [that she] can come across as mean.”
“My understanding is you’ve created this whole narrative of me being over confident, because you are black and black girls are not supposed to be confident,” Bryan said.
“‘You look like a younger Tina Turner, you look like a younger Chaka Khan’, why can’t I just look like me? Why is it always a comparison for black women?”
She also claimed that she was told to change her stage name to Misha B by the show’s producers. “Little did I know, this was to play into their corrupted agenda for the ‘Misha Bully’ they had already orchestrated for this,” she said.
An X Factor spokesperson said in response: “We are very concerned to hear Misha’s comments regarding her experience on The X Factor in 2011. We are currently looking into this matter and are reaching out to Misha to discuss the important issues she has raised.”
They added: “The welfare of contestants is our priority and we are committed to diversity and equality.”
