14 DAY TRIAL // Back in January this year, word got out that 9 former contestants on American Idol were considering filing a lawsuit against the producers, whom they accused of racially-motivated smear campaign. The plaintiffs – who now count 10 – are asking for $25 million (€19 million) each in damages.
In court documents obtained by TMZ, the 10 former contestants, all of whom are black, claim they would have lasted on the show for much longer than they did, had not producers exposed their arrest records to the public.
Because they did, they appeared as criminals and liars and, given the fact that they were also black, they got the axe.
As the former contestants see it, for being “unjustly” booted, they’re entitled to $25 million (€19 million) in damages – each and every one of them.
“The contestants have accused producers of conducting a ‘cruel and inhumane’ scheme to exploit them for ratings by illegally digging up their arrest histories and using the records to humiliate them on national TV,” TMZ says.
“The contestants [are] 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).”
The plaintiffs don’t deny they were arrested at some point – and perhaps not even that they lied about it to producers when they signed up for the show – but they insist no charges were ever brought against them.
So, while they appeared as hardened criminals when producers disclosed their records to the public, they were never that.
“In fact, none had ever even been convicted of the charges stemming from their arrests,” TMZ says.
Neither Fox nor any of the producers was available for comment at the time of writing.