Former 'X Factor' winner Arthur 'sacked by Cowell'

The 2012 'X Factor' winner James Arthur has reportedly been fired from Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music.

There were doubts earlier this week that he would remain a part of the label for much longer, after he tweeted negatively about Cowell.

The final straw seems to be a new song that Arthur wrote, titled 'Follow the Leader', which includes the lyrics: “Look at what you do to me, I'm crying over stupid s**t/ You're such a f***ing 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 defended the context of the lyrics however, comparing it to Eminem’s hit ‘Stan’, which portrays a fictional obsessed fan writing a letter to the rapper.

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

Just for the record.

— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) April 6, 2014

However, according to media reports, Cowell fired him from the label immediately after hearing the song.

UPDATE: The singer has said that as far as he is concerned, he is still signed to Syco, tweeting: “As far as I know I am still with syco but I am exclusively signed to Sony.”