In an exclusive Sun on Sunday interview, heavily-tattooed James — back in the charts with Recovery — also blames his fame for driving him to a deep depression.
And speaking for the first time about his nervous breakdown last month, he reveals: “All my confidence has disappeared because the whole nation thinks I’m a homophobe who looks like a monster.
“I couldn’t speak to anyone for a week. It was awful. My little sister was being bullied in school and I was receiving constant death threats."
"On reflection, it was the most immature, ridiculous thing I’ve ever done. The word ‘queer’ was used in the rap which should never have been the case. In society you can’t use language like that.”
“I’m 100million per cent not homophobic. I despise that label being attached to me.
“I made ten male gay friends on X Factor. I shared a bed with Rylan Clark for ten weeks. I was spooning that guy. I grew up in a house full of women — I have four sisters. I’m more feminine than some gay men.
“I probably look like the archetypal bully. Now people look at me as if I might beat up a gay guy. That really upsets me."
He's said sorry, shall we move on now?
Someone saying a bad word is hardly the worst crime in the world.
And besides if James had to sleep with Rylan Clark, he's surely suffered enough?
Someone saying a bad word is hardly the worst crime in the world.
And besides if James had to sleep with Rylan Clark, he's surely suffered enough?
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But he said he made "mistakes". That is the word people use to trivialise what they've done, as though it were on a par with misdialling someone's 'phone number. People who use "mistake" like that should not be moved on from.
ReplyDeleteA good point.
ReplyDeleteBut he does say "it was the most immature, ridiculous thing I’ve ever done."
I really don't see why this blew up into such a HUGE story anyway...
When Cardinal O'Brien fell in Scotland, a spokesman for the RC Church said he had made "mistakes". The Glasgow Herald printed a letter from me making the same hobby-horse point about "mistake", but they left out the bit I was proud of--"Calling it a mistake makes it sound as though, due to dim lighting, he groped a different young priest from the one he'd meant to." You will, of course, know JL Austin, "A Plea for Excuses."
DeleteWe've all said thoughtless and hurtful things in our past I'm sure. I know I did. He's a kid for goodness' sake. What matters is willingness to say sorry, recognition of hurt caused, willingness to learn and make amends. LGBT folks should accept his apology; at the same time, James might consider being seen to be part of the solution. How about an unstaged visit to a youth homeless charity that specialises in services for LGBT people for instance? He could use the opportunity to speak out, or sing about homophobic bullying and how words can hurt. I also recommend he sack his PR people who have been about as useful as a chocolate kettle in all this.
ReplyDeleteA.T.
Im ashamed that we have bullied this man. He made one mistake and retracted it straight away and apologised profusely. The bullying of him online has been terrible.
ReplyDelete