Simon Cowell Fumes Over Leona Lewis Brit Snub

Music mogul Simon Cowell has slammed organisers of the Brit Awards for snubbing pop star Leona Lewis, accusing them of snobbery over her reality TV show background.

Former X Factor winner Lewis was nominated in four categories at the London awards ceremony in February, but sensationally lost out on all gongs including British Female Solo Artist and British Single for her smash hit Bleeding Love, despite being the favourite to win.

Initially, Cowell admitted he was secretly pleased the star had missed out on the awards, because the snub would stop his pop protégé from developing an ego.

But now Cowell has hit out at the Brit Awards, claiming the U.K.'s top music ceremony does nothing to recognise home-grown talent.

He fumes: "I don't like The Brits, they're too sarcastic. They don't represent what's right in Britain at the moment.

"Leona at The Brits tells you everything about the record business. I believe you should recognise and celebrate success. You don't sneer at it and it doesn't matter where that artist came from.

"This is the problem. People say, 'Leona can't be serious because she entered X Factor.' They sneer. But shows like X Factor are there because doors have been closed. You have to start changing your attitude - give her one award for God's sake!"