James Arthur has slammed One Direction in a Twitter rant.
The 2012 'X Factor' winner slammed his fellow Syco record label mates as a "marketing product" in a foul mouth tirade after a user hailed the boyband as the most successful act to have come out of the TV talent show.
James - who won a coveted recording contract with Sony after triumphing on the show last year - retweeted a message from a fan which read: "It's ironic that the lowest rating xfactor ever looks like to have produced its biggest star. (sic)"
However the tweet prompted Twitter user Tyler Lee to respond: "Hate to be a buzz kill but one direction are the highest grossing artists around ATM - James is s**t x. (sic)"
This prompted James, 25, to seemingly launch an abusive verbal attack in which he branded the 17-year-old a "loser" in a series of direct messages, later posted by the user in a screenshot uploaded from his mobile phone.
In his tirade James fumed: "What the f**k is your problem! Why don't you go and invest in a life instead of posting hate on Twitter you sad f***ing idiot.
"And One Direction don't sell records, they are a marketing product. They [sell] T-shirts and dolls you moron. Let's see you eat your words in time. Loser."
James has been working on the music video for his new single 'You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You', the first track off his self-titled debut, released on November 4.
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