If you think back to the year 2015, a lot of notable things happened. The Star Wars franchise came back with a bang, same sex marriage was legalized throughout all of America, and Steph Curry helped the Warriors earn their first championship in 40 years. But these feats weren’t the only noteworthy things to happen that year. On March 15th, the world was shown one of the most downright baffling exchanges on a reality competition show ever to take place, thereby cementing its place in pop culture history and memedom for years to come. The X Factor New Zealand judge Natalia Kills, along with her husband Willy Moon, berated the contestant Joe Irvine for supposedly trying to copy Moon’s style. Check out the clip below for what exactly happened.
Downright bewildering, right? Apparently trying to look dapper means you’ve stolen someone else’s style and want to become Norman Bates? Who knew! The public backlash was strong, resulting in both Natalia Kills and her husband Willy Moon being fired from the show. There were a lot of rumors flying around afterward. One that she’d been dropped from her label (this was contested by Kills), and that she’d changed her name to distance herself from the drama (she’d supposedly been going by her new name, Teddy Sinclair, for a year already). So, what actually happened after the dust settled?
Source: Giphy
While trying to lay low, she helped write the songs “Kiss it Better” and “Holy Water” for Rihanna and Madonna, respectively. At some point, she and Moon spent three months working away at what would later become material for their new band Cruel Youth, which debuted in February of 2016. It wasn’t until September of that year, though, that they released an EP, +30mg, which was well received by critics and fans alike, later going on tour with “Gold” singer Kiiara.
Kills didn’t stop there, though. Almost a year later, she officially released another single, this time with a group called The Powder Room, the songs theorized to be rejected singles for Cruel Youth. So, what’s she up to now? According to Cruel Youth’s social media, working on more music. As to when they’ll release it, who knows for sure, but fans are eagerly waiting.
Source: Giphy
Will Natalia Kills ever be able to shake the X Factor incident? Unlikely, considering she still gets comments about it on her social media pages and Youtube videos. Will she try to reinvent herself again? If her track record is anything to go by, it’s probable. One thing’s for sure though, Natalia Kills is no quitter.