Simon Cowell reveals Little Mix's split from Syco Records was down to a songwriting dispute.
Simon Cowell
The 59-year-old music mogul has confirmed the hugely popular girl group - who won 'The X Factor' in 2011 before signing to his label - have left after a disagreement with their reps at Modest Management.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, he said: "It was just embarrassing but, funnily enough, I was more annoyed... not about me, but about the fact people who had worked so hard in my company were being misrepresented.
"Why do artists think they're more important than staff members? They're not. They're the same.
"The irony was the record they were arguing about, which is 'Woman Like Me', they didn't want to record. This was one of those ironic times that we were having a hit and nobody was happy."
The song - which hit number two in the UK chart - was released in September as the first single from their upcoming new album 'LM5'.
Simon has dismissed the idea he has walked away from his most successful act - made up of Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock - for any financial reasons.
He explained: "It wasn't down to money. Basically, they said we'd done a terrible job. I had agreed not to talk about this publicly because I thought it was a private matter. I said, 'We can't work with the management, it's as simple as that.' "
Meanwhile, he also confirmed he would talk to the band this week to clear the air in person, and still described them as "the hardest working bunch of girls" he's ever worked with.
A Syco spokesperson previously said: "Syco Music will no longer work with Modest Management and therefore any artists signed to that management company.
"We do, of course, wish all artists affected by this decision every future success. Consequently, LM5, the forthcoming Little Mix album A&R'd and released on Syco Music, is to be serviced by RCA at the request of Syco and Simon Cowell."
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