Romo feuds and rivalries

Since entering the music industry as a star in her own right in 2008, Romo has proven to be a controversial figure for feuding with other popstars and butting into other people's business. She is often regarded in the media as someone who's "fought with nearly everyone".

Taylor Brookes

Without a doubt, Romo's most aggressive rivalry in the early part of her career was with rocker Taylor Brookes. Brookes repeatedly teased Romo by calling her "Yoko Romo" and asking her how her dead husband is doing (referring to John Lennon). Some were so convinced by Taylor's teases and taunts that most people thought Yoko was Romo's real first name. Though Romo tried her best to ignore it, she often found herself in back-and-forth exchanges with Brookes that usually went nowhere. Tabloids speculated whether Brookes was staging her rivalry with Romo as a means of "initiating" her into the London Brat Pack. Coincidentally Romo has an ancestor with the name Yoko Romo. She has since made light of her nickname on a number of occasions, including on her single "Schizo Pop", which opened with the line "Yoko Romo is back bitches".

During the World War III events of late June 2008, when Brookes' feud with Romo's BFF China escalated into a tabloid frenzy that saw nearly everyone taking sides on the matter, Romo stated she vowed to remain an impartial figure in the matter because she felt all the stars weighing in their opinions were only "fair-weathered friends". She shocked the gossips by saying the media was conspiring to make Brookes look much worse than she really is as a way of helping her reach her downfall. Ultimately, Brookes announced her retirement from music shortly after she and China were forced to resolve their differences.

ROUGE

Romo's dislike of the female pop quartet ROUGE has repeatedly made headlines, beginning in the "Schizo Pop" era when the group campaigned against her because of her change in direction.

She was originally supposed to compete with the group a second time in January 2009 when "Nocturnal Emission" and "Red Light" were both scheduled for January 26, but a date change on a date where Izzy was releasing led Romo to express great pleasure over the possible failure of the single. Romo, touring around the same time as ROUGE, offered free ROUGE tickets to people who disliked her performances when ticket prices for the group's Bigger, Badder, Redder tour were marked down due to low sales. During this time, a representative for Elite Records made a statement in which she said Romo should go to therapy and "get doped up enough so that she forgets why she got off with them to begin with." This incident was referenced in Romo's single "TITS-FM!", which includes the line, "Dope me up to forget that everybody knows my name".

Since ROUGE began a two year hiatus, Romo downplayed her feud with the group, although they continued to spat occasionally. Romo relaunched her attack on the group in March 2011 when Saturdays Records paid the group $4 million to return to music, making a counteroffer of $8 million to break up. Days later, when rumors swirled around the Internet that label co-owner China would step down from her post, Romo launched a campaign to become her successor, but drew controversy immediately when a gossip blog revealed that during an off-the-record conversation with gossip columnist TRISH, she implied her first act as manager would be dropping ROUGE.

Kerri Stevens

Romo's long-standing feud with Kerri Stevens is the most vicious of her rivalries. It started when Romo's single "Schizo Pop" was released against ROUGE's "Boyfriend", the follow-up to their massive-selling #1 debut "Let It Go". Stevens strongly disliked the change in direction, claiming it meant she was "full of shit and not a real artist". A joint statement released from the group expressed disappointment because they were fans of Romo's debut album Eve:

"Romo came about with her alternative style and sort of philosophical album, and we bought into that. Now she's going 'I didn't mean it, I'll have a go at pop instead', which is a let down... So don't buy her single."

Almost immediately, Romo fired back at Kerri and ROUGE in an interview with a reporter, firing back with this statement:

"What a joke. Come on, ROUGE? More like RED DYE #2. They can't sing, their voices are autotuned to bollocks. They can't write their own music either. And they're only famous because Jack Stevens is sleeping with them. And they have the nerve to say I'm full of shit? Just brilliant."

During the course of the promotion for "Boyfriend" - a cover of a song by pop singer and songwriter Samantha Jade - it was revealed that the group scheduled shag sessions with Jack Stevens. Romo later immortalized her "autotuned to bollocks" remarks in her song "Belle Ball".

When Kerri charged that Romo's tense personality could be fixed if she got laid - which she believed would be difficult because she's "goofy teeth and lazy eyes" - Romo fired back by saying Kerri's similarly tense personality is because she has a "loose pussy," saying, "Maybe that's why she's such an unlikable cunt - because her cunt is unlikable to begin with."

Brooke Stone

Romo strongly dislikes Brooke Stone, the blonde bimbo of the group, because she always calls her "Homo". She also expressed her belief that Stone is only in the group for eye candy.

Alicia Jones

When Romo discovered that a reissued version of Alicia Jones' debut album Upgrade was receiving more pre-orders on HMV than her second album POPSTAR: The Life & Times Of Belle Ball, she made it imperative to upstage Jones at any given moment, because she believed there was no hype behind her and nothing at all spectacular considering her chart history.

Despite considering her one of her least favorite artists, Romo rarely dished at Jones publicly, but on April 7, 2010, she ripped into Jones during a promotional appearance in response to a poorly received viral campaign that drew heavy criticism from her peers. Her initial remarks drew some boos, but her response, "Why the fuck are you here right now?" resulted in overwhelming applause and standing ovations.

Romo's next door neighbor, coincidentally, is named Alicia Jones.

Ben Johnston

In January 2009, Romo and Ben Johnston met for a business dinner, in which Ben complained that the singer kept the week on which the two were competing "one-sided" so that she could continue her streak of #1 singles.

Despite the tension, Romo and Ben maintained their civil ties, with Ben agreeing to pen the official charity single for her SAVE URAPS initiative, "Play The Game". But in September 2009, Ben confessed he did not like the song; furthermore, he slammed the organization after, when it was reformed by Alesha and Shell Ruin, scheduled its second charity release "Hold Fire" against Ben's comeback single "Army Of Clones". But Ben struck back when the charity's second run failed to be as successful as the first and Ben earned his second #1 single. Romo later attacked Ben for his hatred of "Play The Game" upon finding out he allowed acts from Urapopstar rival Idolised to cover it for a similar charitable cause.

Though Romo kept quiet about her criticism of Ben since then, she openly criticized his Tango Challenge collaboration with Ryan Dawson as "the death of the competition".

Romo appears to have since patched things up with Ben, having engaged in a steamy threesome with him and Victor Strong from Phoenix Rising in December 2010. The two were rumored to be romantically linked to each other, though neither Romo nor Ben confirmed or denied such a relationship.

Perez Hilton

Perez Hilton has become one of Romo's frequent targets since being mentioned in "Schizo Pop" as one who praises "second-rate siren singers". Perez fired back by saying "Schizo Pop" was a Halloween trick (the single was released three days after October 31) luring pop fans to the alternative rock material of her debut album.

Romo sued Perez for defamation after publishing an April Fool's article claiming she had made up with ROUGE and switched to Twist's management.

Romo only expressed support for Perez once, for standing up for gay marriage rights in the wake of Miss California Carrie Prejean stating her belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman.

Ryan Dawson

Ryan Dawson, who released his comeback single "Rush The Sound" against Romo's "The Carpet Didn't Bleed By Itself" in a highly anticipated chart battle, quickly became a fierce critic of Romo. When a ROUGE blog remarked that the worst word in pop music was "pregnant", Romo responded that "ROUGE" was the worst word in pop. Dawson didn't like this at all, instantly beginning a smear campaign against the singer. He viewed Romo as "just another act", failing to buy into her hype, and was seen in public wearing a "Minor Threat" T-shirt to express his feelings for the competition.

Romo, on the other hand, staged a protest against him outside his management's headquarters. She claimed she could do whatever she wanted against him because "my career has yet to be tainted by a #8 single", referring to the failure of his March 2008 release "Miss California".

Neither Ryan nor Romo came out on top when their singles were released, as Elice Claire upset with a second-week climb for "Keepin' U Up". Despite "The Carpet Didn't Bleed By Itself" selling well without needing to be #1, Ryan's single "Rush The Sound" quickly outsold it.

Dawson teamed up with ROUGE for the release of "Love Mercy", which Romo immediately branded "atrocious".

Romo claimed if Dawson won the fourth Tango Challenge, it would be "the death" of the event.

When Dawson died in October 2010, Romo drew controversy for saying she "laughed uncontrollably" when she received the news of his death.

Arwyn Knight

Romo got on well with Arwyn Knight briefly during the start of her career, even supporting her as the opening act on her tour. But she began making numerous statements regarding her shady practices at Wired Records, as the label was showing signs of faltering due to her outrageous spending. Ultimately the label went bankrupt.

However, in May 2009 Arwyn returned and with Ryan Dawson's help revived Wired Records. Arwyn, not surprisingly, became increasingly critical of Romo during her comeback era. Romo blasted Wired 2.0 as "the We Hate Romo label" because she believed the label would become an outlet for acts who dislike her.

Sabrina

One of Romo's most infamous feuds involves singer and former TRL hostess Sabrina. Sabrina made making a mockery out of Romo the main theme for the promotional campaign for her single "Who's Got Your Money", and decided to challenge her comeback single "TITS-FM!" by releasing her double A-side of "Miss Skinny Jeans/Tardy For The Party" on the same week.

Because Sabrina pulled the same tricks out of Taylor Brookes' bag with schoolyard-style teases and by addressing her as "Yoko Romo", Romo considered Sabrina to be "Taylor Brookes 2.0". She added that Sabrina couldn't pick on anybody her own size, and noted that everyone had moved on from her "Yoko Romo" days. The B-side to "Who's Got Your Money?" was "Yoko Romo! Manson Manson Manson", a parody of the Jake/Jack Stevens/Jon Farley collaboration "Sandi York! Manson Manson Manson".

Sabrina annoyed Romo so much she went to ROUGE in an attempt to make up and unite against Sabrina, claiming she was a "bitchy walking text message" and "has it in her head she's either a hobag from the streets or some idiot tween talking to another idiot tween". She repeatedly stated that her catch phrase, "buy my sangle", was ridiculous, and that saying "single" as "sangle" is unacceptable unless you're a dirty south rapper.

Romo parodied Sabrina in the video for "Belle Ball", where she and China bum-rushed a lookalike performing "Who's Got Your Money?" at a karaoke bar.

Before Sabrina was killed in Indigo Peak's "killing games" stunt in early 2010, Sabrina continued criticizing Romo, releasing the single "No More Yoko Romo In 2010" and an EP of Lady Gaga parodies written about how much she dislikes the singer, including "Romocunto", which is regarded as her best song.

Phoenix Rising

When describing the events of the Belle's Ball tour, in which Phoenix Rising were one of her opening acts, Romo mentions all three of her other support acts (China, Esmeralda Dimuzio, and Elice Claire) but disregards Phoenix Rising as "some other guys". While Romo officially has never raised tensions with anyone from the group, she may have downplayed their role in the tour in order to appease her friends Andre Cassenove and Yannik McQueen from Indigo Peak, who publicly expressed dislike for the group on several occasions. However, Romo has never confirmed this.

In April 2010, a controversy erupted involving Romo's personal assistant selling a story to the media involving China having an alleged affair with her elderly masseuse after he and Romo walked in on them in an intimate pose. Tabloids believe Romo wanted to sabotage China's relationship with Phoenix Rising member Alexei Monaghan for her own personal benefit. She also generated controversy for having sex with Victor Strong in a threesome with Ben Johnston during a tumultuous time in Strong's life.

Tony Romo

Romo shares the same last name as American football player Tony Romo, who plays for the Dallas Cowboys. Tony Romo is intensely hated by football fans, and Romo often has some of those remarks misdirected at her because she shares the same last name. She commented that, while she doesn't mind harsh criticism, she does mind when she's being criticized for something she doesn't even do; also, since she's from Manchester, "football" has a different meaning to her than it does to Cowboys fans.

It is because of Tony Romo that, in real life, the query "Romo" became a trending topic on Twitter.

Jack Stevens

Though Romo is highly respected among major superstars in the music industry, the one who's arguably the biggest, Jack Stevens, has not bought into her hype and as such the two have often clashed at times. Most notably, Romo called Jack out on racism for attacks on Alesha; he said his goal with his single "Alright Dynamite" was to "beat Alesha", while he branded Alesha's SAVE URAPS single "Hold Fire" as "shit", despite Alesha giving Jack a part in the song.

Stevens has a part in a song Romo co-wrote for Amy Marshall, "Eargasm Me", which Romo claims was inspired by everything Stevens released, going as far to include words synonymous with the singer's lyrics such as "donk" and "rudebox". Stevens had no knowledge that Romo wrote the song when he accepted the role to collaborate with Marshall.

Jack has also criticized Romo for her support of Syd Wolfe.

Aftershock

Romo blasted Aftershock as "clueless" and plotted a letterbomb attack against them because they boldly predicted that "TITS-FM!" would miss the top 10 upon its release. She also was enraged by a remark the group made that she was "bandwagoning" by supporting breast cancer charities.

When Emily Henning announced the title of her third album would be Only Human, the group claimed it was "mediocre" compared to the title of its first single, "Folie de l'Amour", leading Romo to further shame them by remarking, "You know, after such an amazing song like 'She's Bjork', I feel so let down by 'Kiss Me Like You Like Me'. GET IT SORTED."

Romo has since shown support for the group, praising the promotion for their single "You Don't Win Silver, You Lose Gold"; however, she has since criticized the addition of Kirby L. Avalon as a full-time band member and India Reeves's attempts to turn bandmate Darren Clarke into a heterosexual.

Butterscotch

In Butterscotch's early career, Romo referred to her as "the most frightening act ever", labeling her "crass" and "a gross-out act" on the same level as Auntie FannyFlap, due to the title of her debut album Pakistani Fanny and song titles such as "Killer Tampon", "Chocolate Finger" and "Fungal Infection". She claimed that Butterscotch would only appeal to a niche audience because not everybody is interested in hearing music with such graphic lyrics as hers.

But Romo did help Butterscotch reach the top 5, thanks to a remix of her single "Avon Whore" which helped broaden her appeal. She has since come out as a supporter of the singer's efforts.

Sexy Star

Butterscotch accomplice Sexy Star was also criticized by Romo, particularly during the 2009 Christmas Chart Show, where Romo panned his excessive use of makeup and slyly expressed disgust over his "cuntish features". She later confessed that she believed Sexy Star was trying to "rush the show" due to its slower-than-expected intermissions.

Camilla Holmes

Possibly one of Romo's most hated acts ever is Camilla Holmes, whose mere existence annoyed her to the point that her debut album Eve contained a song putting her to shame, aptly titled "Camilla Holmes". In December 2009, on Romo's manager's birthday, Holmes accused him of having no life. Romo sharply fired back by insisting she "fuck off" and that things would be better off without her. The following day, Romo accounted this experience to a crowd at one of her concerts, leading into a performance of "Camilla Holmes".

Paulo Araujo

Romo and Brazilian R&B singer Paulo Araujo were once quite friendly towards each other, to a point where the two were rumored to be romantically linked. Romo offered creative insight and also appeared in the video for Paulo's single "Vocoder", which was inspired by her Belle Ball concept.

But their relationship turned sour once Ensemble moved the release of Romo's "Bait & Switch/Hell Is A Discotheque" against Paulo's "Blunt". As Romo suffered an embarrassing #1 loss with POPSTAR 2's lead single, she needed to outdo herself to reclaim the throne, but she felt her efforts were not enough as "Blunt" was predicted to reach #1. So Romo announced if Paulo were to beat her, she would call for a global boycott of Paulo's favorite beverage, tea. Paulo cried on GMTV when interviewed about the feud, later causing him to suffer from a nervous breakdown and was consequently admitted to the psych ward. As friends rallied behind him while he was in the hospital, Romo received an immediate backlash from even her biggest fans over the matter, thinking her attempts went too far. She later said in an interview that she received death threats because of the incident. With Romo's best friend China standing behind Paulo, a disagreement erupted and rumors circulated that they would end their friendship, though they have since reconciled.

Until recently, Romo and Paulo have refused to reconcile, but with Romo holding her nose to praise Paulo's guest turn on MIDNIGHT's debut single "Survive" and musical experimentation on "The Hunger", remarking that Paulo was "less of a prick", and putting forth her honest thoughts on the feud on her song "Rinse, Rinse", Romo and Paulo were able to patch up their differences. The pair later collaborated on the track "Frenemies" from Paulo's Versus EP.

Logan Cross

Following a return from a six-month hiatus, Romo immediately expressed wishes to work with Logan Cross in the studio. The duo came together and recorded a remix of POPSTAR 2 album track "Bathroom Entourage" and a song for Logan's Teratology album, "Ring, Ring, Ring (Get On The Phone)".

Logan also accepted her offer to be a support act on her Usurp The Throne tour, which began January 18, 2010. Only two shows were completed and already Romo started trouble, accusing Logan of wanting to abandon her and go on his own headlining tour when a cryptic poster for the February 1st release of his single "Nazi Girl" was leaked online. Logan became angry with Romo for talking to the media about the poster before him, reportedly threatening to quit the tour and "kick her in the vag". To add more fuel to the fire, Romo accused Logan of purposely sabotaging his performances.

Logan was not fired and did not drop out.

Pitchfork Media

Romo is an intense critic of Pitchfork Media, a Chicago-based independent music publication. Romo, previously regarded by the publication for channeling their critical darling Alesha, an influence and close friend of Romo's, is now one of Pitchfork's greatest targets. Both POPSTAR 2: Belle After Death and its lead single "TITS-FM!" received the dreaded 0.0 rating from the site, and spawned a critical analysis surrounding Romo and Ellen Fitzpatrick in regards to whether they've ushered in an era of "bathroom wall-style sex humor" because of shock over substance lyrics.

Because of Pitchfork's harsh reviews towards Romo, she has frequently called out the publication for narrow-mindedness and lack of regard for commercial artists, almost always calling it by the derogatory nickname "Bitchfork".

Despite Pitchfork giving her 2020 album Romo a positive review, Romo declined a reporter's request for an interview. Pitchfork published the exchange between Romo and one of its reporters on its website, which consisted of a single question with a two-word answer from Romo: "Fuck off."

Justin Bieber

Between late 2009 and early 2010, Canadian tween singer Justin Bieber's enormous popularity on Twitter resulted in him being a trending topic every single day for no apparent reason, and in response, Romo changed the name of her Twitter account to "biebersucksass" and posted ramblings against him whenever she had a spare moment.

Romo left Twitter when the site changed the formula that determines its trending topics, thus ending Bieber's reign as a trending topic.

In July 2011, Romo appeared at a premiere party for the film Prime Cut wearing Justin Bieber merchandise, saying she "lost a bet."

Hailey Klass

Hailey, enjoying a career resurgence in early 2010, predicted Romo's single "Bathroom Entourage" would continue her top 5 streak and responded to the rumors that she planned to retire by saying if she wasn't sure about them she would look like "an ignorant twat". Romo responded saying she appreciated the use of the phrase because "it really describes me spot-on." However, Hailey misinterpreted the remarks as an insult to her and Romo's hesitance to address the error left Hailey with the impression that Romo was ignoring her. Romo addressed the incident in a blog posting by apologizing to Hailey and clarifying what she meant to say.

Moodring

Romo criticized R&B group Moodring on multiple occasions in early 2010. When the group returned after a flop debut single to begin promotion of their breakthrough release "A Dangerous Liaison", Romo remarked "it's gonna be a slow year" if lower-tier acts such as them are the only ones making comebacks. She also slighted the band when attempting to get her protege, singer-rapper Malisa Bonga, into the band Tiger Tiger, by saying she would try to break her through "even if it means getting her into Moodring". Finally, commenting on their song "I Am The City" which was performed by Indigo Peak, she said Moodring were "useful for once".

However, during Romo's inactivity after ending the POPSTAR 2 era, Moodring became one of the most successful newcomers of 2010, earning three top 2 singles including the #1 "Fantasy", a #1 album with Mood Swings and a top 10 placing in URAPS Rate. Romo apologized for doubting their potential and offered to make it up to the group by producing their second album.

Taylor

When Romo got word that pop R&B singer Taylor would be her top competition on the week she released "TITS-FM! she joined the crowd of jeers against the singer and brother of Syd Wolfe, calling him inferior and a try-too-hard, and humiliating him by saying he has a small penis. Most famously, when his debut album Trash Me reached #1 on the album charts with 102,342 copies sold, Romo said "I heard someplace that record stores across the UK sold 102,342 coasters."

In March 2011, when Romo campaigned to succeed China as co-manager of Saturdays Records, she implied one of her first acts as a label boss would be to drop Taylor. Although Romo did not get the job, Taylor decided to leave the label following its merger with Holy Trinity in July 2011.

Wolf Wolfe

Romo criticized Wolf Wolfe for glorifying zoophilia on the cover art for his single "The Same Man I Always Was" and in the lyrics of his debut album, Wolf Wolfe and the Women Who Loved Him.

Following Wolf Wolfe's modest chart success and a new animal musician emerging named Lion Lyons, Romo decided to groom a singing giraffe.

Sienna Martinez

URAPS Idol: Second Chance winner Sienna Martinez slammed Romo by saying she is a "hasbeen" who needs to "lose the ego". Romo responded by remarking she should "cut off your fugly tranny face and wear it as a mask for Halloween." The two later patched up their differences and became friends, with Romo contributing a song to Sienna's debut album and offering Sienna the opportunity to lend her vocals to a remix of her single "Pandora Kills".

BULLAH

Romo criticized BULLAH when the then-newcomer announced he would meet with Emily Henning following his signing to Saturdays Records and discuss the possibility of taking on the co-manager position China was rumored to be leaving. Romo said he was "as qualified to run a record label as Sarah Palin is qualified to run a country".

Rebecca Black

When Rebecca Black emerged as an accidental viral video star thanks to the song "Friday" and its music video, Black felt "bullied" by critics of the song, and viewed Romo as one because her song "Music From Mars" criticized singers who lack lyrical depth and heavily rely on autotune (although the single was released three months before "Friday" went viral). Black responded by kidnapping Romo, an experience Romo couldn't stand: "It was horrible. Look at what my day consisted of. Getting bowls. Taking a fuckload of time deciding what seat to take. Hours of partyin', partyin'. Days upon days of fun, fun, fun, fun. What the actual fuck. That girl needs some different hobbies, because she bored the piss out of me in a way I never thought was real."

Romo urged her supporters to "take back music" by eschewing the Rebecca Blacks of the world. She emphasized her point by naming her third headlining tour Taking Back Music.

Prince William and Kate Middleton

Romo declined an invitation to the Royal Wedding in April 2011 because she disliked Prince William (who she called "the royal douchebag") and Kate Middleton (who she unfavorably compared to Camilla Holmes). Romo spent the day of the Royal Wedding mingling with fake royalty at Disneyland Paris.

Chase Elite

Romo has emerged as extremely critical of Chase Elite because of his emergence from the shadows of his sister Candi and using her name for popularity despite inferiority compared to his sister, the same reasons why Romo cannot stand Taylor. When Candi's single "The Sword" was upset at #1 by, oddly enough, Taylor's sister Syd Wolfe's single "Monsters", reports speculated Candi was falling out of favor with the music buying public because they favored Chase over her, with MTV going as far as considering making Chase the headliner of her MTV reality series. In response, Romo discouraged Candi from giving in to the speculation and criticized Chase as "a one hit wonder" and "a greedy opportunist".

4tune

Romo surprise dropped her fifth studio album, Romo, around the same time that veteran pop singer 4tune also returned to attempt a comeback. 4tune and her son, Satsuma Robinson, both had releases scheduled against Romo on September 25, with 4tune scheduling the release of her comeback single "In & Out Of Love" against Romo's "Feminis†" and Satsuma scheduling his debut album against the physical release of Romo. As Romo noticed cocky remarks from both artists directed at her, Romo slammed both mother and son by saying their confidence is misplaced and that she's "looking forward to beating the Robinsons" upon her single and album's charting. The sparring marked the first feud between Romo and one of her industry peers since her return to music.