Ten former contestants from Fox’s hit show, ‘American Idol,’ have reportedly banded together and are filing a lawsuit against the popular series.
According to Entertainment Weekly, ten of the show’s past performers are suing the show based on claims that they were mistreated and kicked off the show because they were black.
Based on a letter submitted by New York City lawyer James H. Freeman to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January, the contestants claim that they are the only ‘Idol’ hopefuls to be publicly disqualified by the show’s producers since the series’ inception.
The 10 contestants also share other aspects – they are all African-American and they are all males.
Mentioned in Freeman’s letter are the names of the 10 men who are listed on the lawsuit – who each seek $25 million, minimum, in damages.
EW reports that the names include:
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).
This is not Clark’s first run-in with the show. The contestant, who appeared on ‘Idol’ almost a decade ago, filed a lawsuit in January based on claims of defamation after he was disqualified from the show after his arrest in 2002 was revealed.
Now, Clark – along with the nine other men – are represented by Freeman who says that the show investigated the arrest histories of the men, while the same act was not done for white contestants on the show.
Freeman also wrote that although none of the men have been convicted of any charges due to arrests, the show’s producers probed into their criminal records in effort to cast them as “violent criminals, liars, and sexual deviants.”
The story was first reported by TMZ.
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