Simon Cowell: 'James Arthur needs to calm down'

Cowell said Arthur should be more grateful for his X Factor success

X Factor 2012 winner James Arthur (Getty Images)

Simon Cowell has said James Arthur needs to "calm down" and remember that The X Factor is responsible for his success.

Arthur, who won the ITV talent show in 2012, has recently claimed he was unhappy with the way his career had been managed.

Cowell's comments follow rumours earlier this week that Arthur had been dropped by record label Syco due to lyrics that appeared to promote terrorism on his new mix tape.

Speaking at the launch of Britain's Got Talent, Cowell told Radio 1: “I’m going to have to sit down with him. The silly ‘you said this, I said this’, it’s all nonsense, it really is. He’s just got to calm down a bit.”

He said Arthur needed to “put things into perspective” and “get into the studio and make a great record” rather than speaking out against his management.

“What I would say to him is to put things into perspective, which is that you won a show, you wouldn’t have got a record deal without the show, you’ve sold a ton of records, just go in the studio and make a great record. Relax.”

The 26-year-old has previously criticised The X Factor, claiming the show made its male winners look like “puppets”.

Arthur denied that he had been dropped by Cowell’s record label, writing on Twitter: “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 the music.”

He added that the line “I’m going to blow up your family like I’m a terrorist” was based on a letter from a “demented fan” in the style of Eminem’s song “Stan”.