American Idol is being sued for the way they treated some of their contestants: only ten contestants in the show’s history were publicly disqualified, and they were all African-American. And what’s more, the producers used a “cruel and inhumane” scheme to illegally obtain arrest histories on these contestants to publically humiliate them, making them appear, as TMZ reports their lawyer of saying, to be “violent criminals, liars and sexual deviants,” when in fact they weren’t. None of the arrests even lead to convictions.
10 Idol contestants, including Corey Clark (season 2), Jaered Andrews (season 2), Jacob John Smalley (season 2), Donnie Williams (season 3), Terrell Brittenum (season 5), Derrell Brittenum (season 5), Thomas Daniels (season 6), Akron Watson (season 6), Ju’Not Joyner (season 8), and Chris Golightly (season 9) are joining the suit, and seeking no less than $25 million apiece for their grievances.
The suit further claims that though black contests were exploited, with their criminal histories divvied up to perpetuate “destructive stereotypes,” such was not the case for white contestants on the show. The suit also alleges that only black contestants were questioned about their criminal histories. The racial stereotypes were played up to boost ratings, and meanwhile destroyed the careers of the black contestants.
A rep for American Idol has not yet commented on the charges.
Image Credit: TMZ