Natalia Kills and Willy Moon were fired from judging X Factor New Zealand as a result of “completely unacceptable” bullying of contestant Joe Irvine, during Sunday night’s live show.

Irvine had just finished his performance of Michael Bublé’s ‘Cry Me A River’ and had turned to the judges for the customary constructive criticism, when Kills gave her thoughts. Initially it seemed as if she was going to make a joke in the similarity of his appearance to her husband and fellow judge Moon, whilst the audience cheered.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am just going to state the obvious, we have a doppelganger in our midst.”

It soon became apparent however that there was nothing constructive in the comments she was making, and she was being downright cruel.

“As an artist who respects creative integrity and intellectual property I am disgusted at how much you have copied my husband, from the hair to the suit, do you not have any value or respect for originality?

You’re a laughing stock,it’s cheesy, it’s disgusting, I personally found it absolutely artistically atrocious. I am embarrassed to be sitting here in your presence having to even dignify you with an answer of my opinion.”

At this stage, Moon chimes in, offering his thoughts:

“To me it just feels a little bit cheap and absurd. It’s like Norman Bates dressing up in his mother’s clothing. It’s just a little bit creepy and I feel like you’re going to stitch someone’s skin to your face and kill everybody in the audience.”

Naturally, there was a huge outcry as the result of this, with a petition to have Kills removed from the show surpassing 70,000 signatures within 24 hours. Mark Weldon, MediaWorks’ chief executive, released a statement on Monday (3/16) announcing the firing of both Kills and Moon, saying:

“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,” he 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.”

You can watch the video of Kills and Moon bullying Irvine below, and let us know whether you think it was the right decision to fire them in the comments.

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