Simon Cowell has blasted Martin Gore and branded him "weird and stupid" after the Depeche Mode star declared he wanted to "shoot" the music mogul.

Gore told Music Week he was no fan of Cowell for flooding international Tv networks with talent shows, ranting, "I'm not advocating violence but I think somebody should shoot Simon Cowell."

The X Factor boss is fuming about the remarks and has taken to his Twitter.com page to slam Gore for his comments.

In a series of posts, Cowell writes, "I read Martin Gore wants to shoot me. He was is (sic) in depeche mode. Do you realise how weird and stupid that makes you. Go and watch the news.

"Why I am angry about weirdo gore is a ton of people have got shot this year and people like weirdo gore encourage this."