Olly Murs has publicly defended James Arthurafter his [uuid=dc87d1e0-5baa-4495-81e1-1a574ed00d73]controversial "homophobic" rap[/uuid].
Arthur has been told to take time off work [uuid=e6746741-b917-403b-a2a2-18ae07ddf658]due to "exhaustion"[/uuid], following the battle rap and a series of social media spats.
Olly told Digital Spy: "To be fair to James he did comment and he made a very good statement saying, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it'.
"But, look, he's got a couple of weeks off I suppose to get himself back to scratch. He's a talented lad, he's got a great voice, great ability and hopefully he bounces back.
"There's always artists out there that cause controversy... at the moment he's going through a tough time.
"I just think sometimes when your back's against the wall you just say things and you probably don't mean it. So I give him the benefit of the doubt."

[uuid=fec4e484-c3d3-4212-ab07-f9483e227ccc]WATCH MTV'S EXCLUSIVE LIVE SESSION WITH OLLY MURS HERE[/uuid]