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American Idol, a show whose ratings have flagged over its last few seasons, tried something new last week, as Jorge Rivas reports at the
Colorlines.com/Now blog. When producers found out that 25-year-old contestant Jermaine Jones, a black man, had four outstanding warrants, they kicked him off the show. Understandable — except that they filmed it and broadcast it as part of the show, to 17 million viewers.
Reaction has been genuinely split. Some commentary has said that this amounts to an extrajudicial public shaming — they’re warrants for unknown crimes, not guilty verdicts, but even if Jermaine is found not guilty on all charges, he better hope his next job interviewer isn’t an Idol fan. On the other hand, others say, it was a pretty dumbass move by Jermaine to go on national TV with four warrants. (And still others have exhibited a Batman-esque bloodlust for anyone accused of any crime, but let’s leave them be.)
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Anthony Doss
March 19, 2012 at 12:36 pm
I gave up on “Idol” years ago, true the contestants sign contracts, with that being said, this situation could have and should have been handled differently, I don’t need to know about the person’s warrants, just announce that he or she has been disqualified for contractual reasons.
Tiffany Cooper
March 19, 2012 at 12:03 pm
They knew ahead of time … They just wanted a little controversy on the show to keep people glued .. Smh..
Cantrece Lovingme Butler-briscoe
March 19, 2012 at 11:51 am
I was a bit perturbed by the way American Idol handled this situation….!! Now what really gets me is WHY THEY AIRED THE SITUATION THAT WAS CLEARLY A PRIVATE MOMENT!! Since when does TALENT get booted to the curb for a shocking reveal that 1 man has had a brush with the law??? REALITY TV….who cares BRING HIM BACK!!
Kb Brown
March 19, 2012 at 11:39 am
I don’t exactly agree with having things like that filmed, but the guy did have to sign waivers (most likely) to have his “image,” name, etc. used by AI on camera. Personally, I wouldn’t have gone on AI with warrants hanging over me, but I’m not Jermaine Jones and he made the choice to do that.