Fired “X Factor New Zealand” judge Willy Moon is playing the race card for his wife Natalia Kills. The Kiwi judge has blasted his replacement in the show, Shelton Woolright, for his blackface photos, saying the TV3 reality show fired an “opinionated black woman” for a man in wearing full black face makeup.

Following their irrational outburst on live television earlier in March, the husband and wife team were immediately sacked from the show. The worldwide reaction on their apparent bullying of contestant Joe Irvine was overwhelmingly negative, with many people hoping that Moon and Kills wouldn’t be able to work in the industry again.

They were promptly replaced by Woolright and Australian “X Factor” veteran Natalie Bassingthwaighte. But if people think that they have heard the last of the Moons, they are sadly mistaken. The couple have been trying to survive the fiasco that they have created, even now joking about their infamous rant on Twitter. Moon also has taken offence at his replacement, whom he all but called a racist for wearing a blackface in his past performances.

“New Zealand. Pours racist hatred on an opinionated black woman, replaces her with a guy in blackface,” he wrote on Twitter, adding a photo of Woolright in blackface. The tweet has been deleted after an hour on Tuesday. He posted another similar tweet several hours later, which he deleted again.

Kills, whom Moon married in 2014, is an English singer with an African-Jamaican and Uruguayan heritage. If the duo were hoping to turn the public opinion in favour to them, they have failed in that regard. While some social media users acknowledged that Woolright’s use of blackface was indeed racist, they contend that the sacking of his wife had nothing to do with her race.

Meanwhile, Woolright has defended his blackface makeup, saying it was just his form of expression on stage. “I grew up listening to and watching alternative bands like KISS, Mudvayne and Tool who all created stage costumes for their performance,” the I AM GIANT drummer said. “Just like my influencers, the black face paint has been part of my stage performance for various shows and videos and has been a developing concept. As with my full body tattoos, it has been a form of expression and a point of difference.”

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