‘X Factor’ Rapper Astro Says His Appearance in the Bottom Two Is a Conspiracy

'X Factor' fave Astro (born Brian Bradley) took some heat for his bratty, attitudinal reaction to being in the bottom two last week. He was criticized by his mentor L.A. Reid, by Simon Cowell and fellow contestants. It almost cost him his time on the show as no one was impressed by his 'tood. Still, even though Astro apologized, he said wouldn't amend his behavior in hindsight.

"If I could have gone back, I wouldn’t change a thing," the confident and cocky 15-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter. He's not doing much to earn likeability points right now, which is sad, since we really dig him and his raps.

Astro also believes that there was some sort of conspiracy going on and that, as opposed to his performance the night before, caused him to tumble in the fan voting. He said, "It was kind of aggravating on my part, because basically something that happened behind the scenes. I felt like I was being treated unfairly, basically that was 'X Factor’s' way of punishing me. I don’t care to talk about what happened, but I doubt I was in the bottom two."

He pointed out that he has the most followers on Twitter and the most YouTube views out of all his fellow contestants as proof that something was not on the up and up with the results. "I knew something was fishy… That’s why I spazzed out," he said.

PopCrush would like to make a plea to Reid. Pull Astro aside and tell him to zip it. Get him some media training. Making these types of blanket, sweeping statements screams "SORE LOSER" and hurt his chances of excelling.

Reid apparently gave his charge a talking to after the results ep. Astro declined to share the details of the conversation, instead saying, "Let’s just say me and L.A., we’re close. We’re the closest in the competition. L.A. was just giving me advice and telling me to keep my head up."

A rep for the show shot down Astro's claims that he was being punished and conspired against. The statement read:

"After the public vote, Astro was in the bottom two last week. All votes are collected and tallied by an independent vote management firm. The results were certified to be true and accurate."