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James Arthur has strongly denied that he has been dropped by Syco, amid reports that Simon Cowell's label had parted ways with him over controversial lyrics relating to terrorism.
The previous X Factor winner's most recent headlines came from reports originated in The Sun newspaper.
The paper quoted a source as saying: "Simon and Syco have been extremely loyal to James throughout his problems but there's only so much they are prepared to put up with." This was not, however, been officially confirmed by Syco's representatives.
The 'Impossible' singer has now taken to Twitter to dismiss the claims:
As far as I know I am still with syco but I am exclusively signed to Sony. People look too deeply into the media circus. It's about music.
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) April 6, 2014
Arthur's most recent controversy is over a line in his new song 'Follow The Leader', which is said to promote terrorism: "You're such a fucking homophobe, wish I'd never let you in, to think that I was thinking maybe I should let you live, I'm gonna blow up your family like I'm a terrorist." Arthur has taken to Twitter to defend the lyric though.
The song "follow the leader" from the mixtape is not promoting terrorism, it's a story, a reciting of a Stan Esc letter from a demented fan.
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) April 6, 2014
Arthur won the ITV talent show The X Factor in 2012, when he was mentored by Nicole Scherzinger, but his music career has since been overshadowed by homophobic slurs and public arguments. During a rap battle, the singer referred to his rival as a "fucking queer", and has since been widely criticised.
In a recent interview with Metro, Simon Cowell commented that Arthur should have "shut up and just put the records out", adding: "I think James, unfortunately, has had so many issues with what he has done publicly - which is a real issue with me."
Below: The 9 worst moments of James Arthur's career so far
