Former X factor contestant Katie Waissel is suing Simon Cowell over an alleged breach of duty of care while she was on the show. She had taken part in X factor in 2010 along with One Direction where she finished seventh.
Waissel said that as a result of being labelled the most hated contestant on the show by Cowell, she underwent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She suffered panic attacks and had suicidal thoughts. Waissel is a qualified lawyer and is suing Cowell’s record company Sysco Entertainment in the law of tort for an alleged breach of duty of care.
She told The Sunday Times, “I am pursuing a civil case of personal injury under negligence, which pertains to duty of care.”
X Factor faces time limitation
However, there is a statute of limitation of three years on this claim so Waissel also has to convince a judge to overturn the time limitation should she want to pursue this further.
“I was [contractually] given £1 in exchange for appearing on the live shows section of the programme. That structure is manipulation and coercion at its finest. Company A, who is in a position of power, seeks person B, who is vulnerable. Company A says, this is the biggest opportunity of your life and without it, you would be nothing. That is the absolute pinnacle of where it’s all gone wrong. It gives me goosebumps…
“There are so many of us who have been so trapped an it’s not fair, there was a huge imbalance of power. I just wanted to be able to understand [the contracts] and to protect people from being manipulated in the future.”
The UK X Factor was cancelled last year after 17 seasons. Cowell however is keen to bring it back to the screen in the United States.
He has not made any comment on the accusations and lawsuit above yet.
There have also been rumours of a documentary to investigate claims of bullying and harassment behind the scenes on the ITV show.
The documentary will include interviews with former contestants who say there was “bullying, exploitation and harassment” off camera.
Mistreated
“There are currently some former contestants telling their stories for the programme. There are some out there who believe they were mistreated by the X Factor machine. They are now going to get their chance to have a say,” said one source.
One former contestant John Grimes who appeared on the show with his brother Edward said they were happy the show had been axed.
“If it wasn’t for the show we’d be winning Grammies,” he said to ITV News.
“I feel a lot of people have been exploited on the show, people behind the scenes, different contestants have come forward and shared their stories.”
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