Apr 14, 2011 12:42 GMT  ·  By
Ashley Kauffman was told by AI producers she was too fat to sit front row at live show
   Ashley Kauffman was told by AI producers she was too fat to sit front row at live show

A few days ago, an American Idol fan made headlines with claims that, during the latest live show, she was sent to the back row after being told she was too “fat” to sit front row, behind the judges. Now, Ashley Kauffman is telling her story on Good Morning America.

After Ashley went to Radar with her story, American Idol producers denied her claims that she was discriminated against because of her weight, saying she was sent to the place she had a ticket for: her weight had nothing to do with it.

On GMA, the 19-year-old tells a different story from that of AI producers, standing by her original claims, as the video below will confirm.

When she arrived at the venue, she was told she couldn’t sit in the front row with her friends because she was too “big” and too “heavy.”

It hurt her deeply to have a female staffer look at her “with disgust,” the girl says. She knows she’s heavy because she’s always been like that, but she believes she deserved to be treated with more respect.

She and two other girls (of the group of friends of six, who came together to the show) were sent to the back row of the section, where she remained until the show was over.

“It makes sense why you’re not with the skinny girls… you’re in the back row,” another staffer told Ashley, as per her own words.

Also on GMA, the girl insists she doesn’t want money or fame: she just wants an honest apology from American Idol producers and the promise that no other girl, no matter her weight, will be treated in such a humiliating fashion.

Chances are the apology will never come.

“We always strive to assure that every audience member has the best experience possible, and these allegations are simply untrue,” a rep for the show insists.

See Ashley Kauffman tell her story on Good Morning America below.