I know what you’re thinking…”Wait American Idol is STILL on
the air?”
But I first wrote about this back in January when there
were rumblings about a lawsuit in the works; and now it’s come to reality.
American
Idol
producers and the Fox Network have
been hit with a huge multi-million dollar lawsuit by ten former black AI
contestants, all of them asking for $25
million each in damages, claiming racial discrimination, and that they were intentionally and unjustly
forced off the show as part of a “racist plot” to boost
ratings for the show.
New York City based lawyer James Freeman who is representing the contestants – Corey Clark, Jaered Andrews, Jacob
John Smalley (Season 2), Donnie Williams (Season 3), Terrell Brittenum, Derrell Brittenum (Season 5), Thomas Daniels, Akron Watson (Season 6), Ju’Not Joyner (Season
8), and Chris Golightly (Season 9) – charges that AI producers “illegally
dug up arrest histories of the contestants and used them to humiliate the singers, but never
attempted to dig up similar dirt about white contestants.”
According to Freeman, only black contestants were questioned about
their criminal histories.
Freeman calls these actions “cruel and inhumane,”
accusing Idol of exploiting black contestants, perpetuating “destructive
stereotypes,” and making them appear to be “violent criminals, liars, and
sexual deviants.”
However, none of the 10 men he represents have been
convicted of charges stemming from their arrests.
But many are asking – are the racism charges against AI
truly fair?
According to statistics, some 41 of the show’s 143 finalists
have been black, about 30% of finalists,
and that includes last season’s winner Candice
Glover.
And former black finalists have publicly stated that they
never experienced any discrimination of any kind on the show.
Season 6 finalist Melinda
Doolittle, has gone on record to say that
“It
is shocking to see such allegations. In my experience on the show, the Idol
team strives to champion everyone, regardless of race.“
Vonzell
Solomon, third place finalist in Season 4, said that “I didn’t experience any of that
racial discrimination.”
So
what do you say?
