‘American Idol’ Lawsuit and 4 Other Scandals, Controversies in the Competition’s History
Recently, a former American Idol contestant made headlines as she filed a lawsuit against the ABC show. It’s not the first time the competition has landed in hot water in the last 20 years. Here’s more on the lawsuit, plus other American Idol scandals and controversies that have haunted the singing show since it began in 2002.
A contestant of ‘American Idol’ Season 20 is suing the producers
Last year, a gaming live-streamer named Normandy Vamos auditioned for American Idol Season 20. She left an impression on judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan with her unique fashion sense and high-pitched speaking voice that changed into a deep, soulful sound as she sang. Vamos earned a golden ticket to Hollywood but later claimed she was uninvited. Her audition also went viral.
Fast-forward to February of this year, when news broke that Vamos was filing a lawsuit against Idol‘s producers. As Fox News reported, Vamos sued for wage theft, “claiming she and others should have been paid as employees for the time they spent waiting to audition for the show.”
Vamos also claimed that she was made a “laughing stock” in her audition. The outcome of the lawsuit has not yet been revealed.
Viewers slammed Katy Perry for an ‘uncomfortable’ kiss with a 19-year-old contestant
In 2018, Perry faced backlash and sexual assault accusations from American Idol viewers when she kissed 19-year-old Benjamin Glaze on the lips without his consent. He told the judges in his audition that he had never kissed a girl before, prompting Perry to invite him to the judges’ table. She let him kiss her on the cheek and then turned to plant a kiss on his lips.
After the episode aired, Glaze told The New York Times that he was “a tad bit uncomfortable” with the kiss because he wanted to save his first kiss for his first relationship. However, he also clarified that he did not feel sexually assaulted or harassed by Perry.
The ‘Textgate’ scandal on ‘American Idol,’ explained
American Idol has faced several voting scandals over the years, but one of the most memorable was dubbed “Textgate.” In 2009, AT&T, one of Idol‘s sponsors at the time, admitted to providing free phones and texting services for Kris Allen’s fans, to be used during several finale voting parties. Many people believed that this contributed to Allen’s win over Adam Lambert.
However, AT&T denied attempts to fix the competition. American Idol producers also stood by Allen’s win, claiming that they had “an independent third-party monitoring procedure” to ensure fairness in voting, per The New York Times.
Delano Cagnolatti was the first of many disqualifications on ‘Idol’
Back in the first season of American Idol, Delano Cagnolatti made it to the semi-finals of the competition. However, it was then revealed that he lied about his age in order to audition. The age range at the time was 16 to 24 years old, and Cagnolatti claimed he was 23, but he was really 29. Cagnolatti was disqualified and replaced by Ejay Day.
Cagnolatti would become one of several contestants to be disqualified throughout American Idol‘s 20-year run thus far. Other disqualifications include season 2’s Frenchie Davis and Corey Clark, season 8’s Joanna Pacitti, and season 11’s Jermaine Jones. Season 19’s Caleb Kennedy left the competition on his own after a controversial video of him appeared online.
‘American Idol’ faced criticism for a 9/11 commemoration event
Shortly after Kelly Clarkson won the first season of American Idol, she was scheduled to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a 9/11 memorial for the first anniversary of the attacks. Many people accused Idol producers of trying to turn the memorial into a promotional event.
Even Clarkson felt uneasy about it, as she said (per People), “I think it is a bad idea … If anybody thinks I’m trying to market anything, well, that’s awful. I am not going to do it.”
However, Clarkson was unable to get out of her performance, and she sang as scheduled.
Will American Idol face any controversies or scandals in season 21? Fans will have to stay tuned to find out. New episodes of season 21 air on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, with next-day streaming available on Hulu.
For more reality show controversies, check out the biggest scandals on The Voice.
