'American Idol' Hit With Racial Discrimination Suit

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that 10 former American Idol contestants have filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the show, claiming they were mistreated and unfairly disqualified from the competition due to their race.ย Each plaintiff seeks $25 million, minimum, in damages. Suggested Reading Chicago’s Mayor Claps Back at Trump Deeming the City the Next ICE Target…

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that 10 former American Idol contestants have filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the show, claiming they were mistreated and unfairly disqualified from the competition due to their race.ย Each plaintiff seeks $25 million, minimum, in damages.

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Formerย American Idolย contestant Corey Clark is suing Fox againโ€ฆ and this time, he's not alone.

EW has confirmed that 10 onetimeย Idolย hopefuls โ€” including 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) โ€” have banded together to file a suit against the singing series.

The plaintiffs claim that they were treated unfairly โ€” and kicked off the show unjustly โ€” because they all happen to be black.ย ย TMZย first reported the news.

The suit's story began in January, when New York City lawyer James H. Freeman submitted aย letterย on behalf of the group to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In it, Freeman claimed thatย Idolโ€˜s producers have only publicly disqualified 10 contestants in the show's history, all of whom are African-American.

Furthermore, Freeman wrote, the show illegally dug up arrest histories for those 10 men, using them to humiliate the singers โ€” but never attempted to dig up similar dirt about white contestants. Allegedly, only black contestants were questioned about their criminal histories.

Read more at Entertainment Weekly.ย 

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