Nicole Scherzinger is in the hot seat. She was the ultimate puppet master behind last night's controversial and shocking elimination of Rachel Crow on 'X Factor.' She had the tie-breaking judge's vote and chose to send it to deadlock, effectively not offering a vote. When that happens, the contestant with the lowest amount of votes goes home automatically.

Boos and tweets of hate ensued when it was revealed that Crow was a goner. Perhaps Nic thought that Marcus Canty would be going home and tried to make it easier on herself and on him by not voting for him to go? But with Crow actually being booted, the judge has to be feeling some guilt. She certainly looked distraught over her choice.

Turns out the Scherz, who was the recipient of angry death threats from fans last week for her voting choice, is not regretting her decision to not vote, which caused Crow to go and Canty to stay.

According to PerezHilton, Scherzinger said, "I don't know. Everything happens for a reason. Rachel, it was a surprise to me that she was in the bottom two and now that she's being sent home. But no, I had to leave it up to America."

She continued, "At this point in the game, I don't want to send anyone home. Marcus had been in the bottom twice already. I wasn't going to make the decision. I just couldn't make the decision, so I left it up to America to vote."

Some might call that punking out, but honestly, we can't criticize her. We wouldn't want to be in her position. It's too hard.

Crow was once again a class act, who is holding no grudge and laying no blame at Scherzinger's door.
Even though the teen broke down and sobbed when she learned she was out, she told PEOPLE that it's all good in the hood. "She told me that she was sorry," Crow said. "I don't know why she said that, but I saw her in her dressing room and ... I told her it was okay and not her fault." Aw, Rach. You are too adorable.

Crow also discourages fans from getting vicious. "I want to say to all those people, 'Stop, Please,'" she said. She deemed the Scherz "the nicest person and the most beautiful person inside and out." Crow continued to praise Scherz, saying, "She is amazing, and I don't understand why people are taking it out on her. It's no one's fault. It's not even America's fault. It's no one person's fault. It's just what God had in store for me. And I will be okay."

Yes, Miss Crow, you will. And 'X Factor' fans, lay off the hate towards Nicole Scherzinger.

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