Danny Gokey Trends on Twitter and More on Eyeglass Gate

By On 06/18/2009 · 390 Comments · In Uncategorized

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Before I get into Eyeglass Gate, I have to mention the shizz that went down on twitter last night.   ONTD started it all–it’s pretty much explained here.   And, indeed, ONTD’s call-to-arms to make #gokeyisadouche trend on twitter, had peeps twittering til it trended to #1–until twitter got wind of the campaign and yanked it off.

Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s relatives werenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t part of the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’I could give a ratà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ass about them. And, hacking into a strangerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s account in order to post their private business on the internet is pretty low.   Ok, so I’m hearing that it may or may not have been hacked.    And I realize peeps are pissed about his clueless remarks on Comcast.net:

Yes. I accept gay people, but people have to accept my beliefs,” Danny said. “We have to accept their beliefs, but they have to accept my beliefs. We agree to disagree. I don’t judge people, but at the same time, if they believe in what they believe, they have to accept me and what I believe. But I accept anybody as they come. That’s my character and my personality.

What?

Anyway, it’s still kind of ridiculous–Gokey’s relatives aren’t celebrities.   But yes. I’ll admit it. I watched and I giggled. The commotion on twitter last night was totally a lawnchair-and-popcorn worthy eventà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

***

FramesDirect.com, the online eyeglass retailers who entered into a dubious partnership with fansite Danny Gokey Gear to peddle “Danny Gokey Eyewear worn by Danny Gokey on American Idol” (more on that here and here) with part of the proceeds supposedly going to Danny Gokey’s charity, Sophia’s Heart Foundation has just issued a press release.   A little damage control maybe?

The founder of FramesDirect.com, a doctor, has a little backstory of his own:

Avid “American Idol” fan Dr. Guy Hodgson and his wife had 14-week premature triplets in March 2008, leading to heart operations for two of the babies, one a seven-hour open-heart surgery. The baby’s heart actually had to be stopped and he was put on a bypass machine. Fortunately, the heart defect was repaired and all of the babies are now thriving. You can view the story of Dr. Hodgson’s triplets including pictures and video at http://www.totsites.com/tot/hodgson3.

Dr. Hodgson was very touched when watching the story of “American Idol” finalist Danny Gokey and the love he had for his late wife, who also had a heart condition and died in July 2008, four weeks prior to Mr. Gokey’s “Idol” audition.

*SOB*

FramesDirect.com agreed to split the gross profits with the fan site, because DannyGokeyGear.com will be donating a portion of the profits to Sophia’s Heart Foundation. When there appeared to be some confusion in the social media over the campaign’s intentions, Dr. Hodgson decided he would also make contributions directly to the foundation himself. His first hand experience of his own children undergoing heart operations made this fund raising effort very personal to him. To emphasize his personal commitment to the cause, Hodgson also pledged to give 50% of the remaining FramesDirect.com profit from all sales of these frames between May 24, 2009 and July 21, 2009, regardless of whether the purchase is made by a fan, to Sophia’s Heart Foundation. Dr. Hodgson has contacted Sophia’s Heart Foundation to inform them of the pending donation.

As of June 12, 2009, sixty-two frames have been sold. FramesDirect.com and DannyGokeyGear.com will continue to monitor sales and make their final donations on July 22nd 2009.

The press release claims that TV Guide was somehow mixed up in all this:

The Fashion Team on TV Guide’s “Idol Wrap Up” show wanted to feature the eyewear worn by Gokey during his performances on “American Idol” and direct the public to the fan web site, DannyGokeyGear.com, for more information on the various frames. DannyGokeyGear.com contacted FramesDirect.com, to arrange for an easy way for fans to purchase the eyewear.

Huh?

“It appears there may have been some confusion among Danny’s fans and perhaps even Danny himself about this project,” Dr. Hodgson said. “Hopefully, this information will clarify the situation and my personal involvement and also increase the awareness among the public of Sophia’s Heart Foundation,” he added.

Nope. Not clarified. I’d still like to know why FramesDirect.com was selling eyeglasses using Danny’s likeness and the American Idol logo without permission.   And why they’re still selling them despite Danny calling them out as a scam.   Perhaps I (or you) should drop the good Dr. and email.

Please feel free to contact Dr. Guy Hodgson at gwhodgson (at) framesdirect (dot) com

 
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  • lostinidol

    Yes. I accept gay people, but people have to accept my beliefs,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Danny said. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“We have to accept their beliefs, but they have to accept my beliefs. We agree to disagree. I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t judge people, but at the same time, if they believe in what they believe, they have to accept me and what I believe. But I accept anybody as they come. Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s my character and my personality.

    I think something that is lost in all this is that being gay is not a belief. It is not a choice. Gays don’t gather in groups on Sunday morning to be preached to about how they should be going out into the world to try to turn the fallen and misguided heterosexual population into homosexuals. If you are truly gay, you are wired differently than heterosexuals.

    I thought AI made a subtle attempt to make this point with the little pimp piece they did for Adam about how “different” he was from a very early age. And I think Adam has tried to make the point how difficult his early years were because he was different. No one would choose this for themselves. It is to Adam’s credit that he has come to accept it and feel good about himself.

    So, in my mind, you don’t have to look any further than Danny’s comments here to understand that he doesn’t get it. He sees Adam as having made some kind of lifestyle choice designed to be a personal affront to Danny’s own beliefs. But Danny, being the forgiving and loving Christian that he is, is willing to accept Adam despite this. Danny’s comments are ignorant and condescending. And because he is now in a world outside of his sheltered church community where conformity in beliefs is demanded, he will be judged as such.

  • a-lamb

    lostinidol – Thank you. Exactly.

  • isisdagmar

    In some ways what Neil did is worse than Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cousin because he posted these comments in a public forum. I think Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cousin posted hers in her private facebook account (some say it was hacked, and some say facebook changed the settings). At any rate, it seems she thought she was sharing this stuff privately amongst her family and friends. However, I still think she was meanspirited, but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think she was publically trying to humiliate Adamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦she was still wrong.

    Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cousin. Well, she had a horse in this race, too. I have often thought about Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s family and how they would feel going to an AI website and reading all of the intense hate that was put out there. Most of it seemed to come from the fanbase that was the biggest competitor to Danny. Letà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s face it, for the bulk of the season, these two were the ones to beat. I imagine reading this stuff colored there feelings, through no fault of Adam. But it does happen.

    So, homophobia is less awful if it’s expressed privately (even though it seems that her facebook was public, not private) than simply critical comments are when expressed semi-privately (somethingawful.com is not a completely public forum)? Had Danny’s brother made comments about Adam or Kris in the vein of those that Neil made about Danny–had he made comments that he personally found Adam or Kris annoying and that he didn’t want either of them to beat Danny–I don’t think any Kris or Adam fan here would have been that riled up. But these comments weren’t simply expressing dislike towards Adam–they were homophobic. They weren’t just mean–they were bigoted and hateful. Imagine if Adam were black instead of gay, and the comments on this girl’s facebook had been mocking and hateful towards his race, calling him vile names, etc.–would you honestly saying be making comparison between these comment’s and Neil’s then? Homophobia is bigtory.

    “She had a horse in this race too”–I can’t quite tell if you are saying that the fact that Adam and Danny were frontrunners and rivals, and the fact that a lot of nasty stuff has been said about Danny online, in any way mitigates what she said or what her fb friends said about Adam. If you are: again, would you excuse racist comments on the part of a white contestant against a black contestant by saying that, well, they were rivals and a lot of mean things had been said about the white contestant?

    Look at the comments. This girl found it hysterical that her dad is so repulsed by gay people that he didn’t even want to go near Adam. Her facebook friends called him disgusting, repulsive, a horrible role model for their children–these comments were not deleted or discouraged. One commentator actually said that Adam was a “what” instead of a “who” and that it was hard for her to believe that God loved people who dressed like that. Adam was an “it” to her, not a human being, because he’s gay, and these comments were not deleted or discouraged in any way. The hatred in these comments is unfathomable.

    I can understand saying that we shouldn’t hold Danny accountable for this. He might just have been being insensitive rather than malicious when he asked Adam to sign that picture. If there were no evidence that he agreed with his family, he probably wouldn’t have received any anger over this at all. But between the Sarver video and his own statements about being gay being a “belief” rather than simply how someone is born, there is plenty of other evidence of his homophobia, and people don’t need to believe that he is evil or something to be angry about that. I don’t think he’s an awful person, but he is prejudiced and ignorant, and that makes people angry, as it should.

    And even if we allow that Danny shouldn’t be held accountable for what his relatives say, there can be no logical equivalence drawn between the critical, possibly mean-spirited comments (depending on your perspective) from Neil and the thoroughly disgusting, bigoted, homophobic, utterly hateful comments made about Adam on those pictures.

  • aek

    So, homophobia is less awful if ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expressed privately (even though it seems that her facebook was public, not private) than simply critical comments are when expressed semi-privately (somethingawful.com is not a completely public forum)?

    No, what I’m saying is that I don’t think it was intended to humiliate Adam. I think homophobia is terrible. Please don’t put words in my mouth. I said that what she did was meanspirited and wrong. But I actually do think it would have been even worse if she tried to publically humiliate Adam in some kind of way.

    And I do know that her facebook was set to private. Someone mentioned that the facebook settings had changed, and so people were allowed to see photo albums, and they said last night that we should go and check our accounts. I have no clue, but I do know that her account had been set to private.

    I know people keep saying that Danny was party to this. I still think all he did is ask Adam to sign the picture. I don’t think he thought it would be upsetting for Adam. Noone who knows Danny personally has said ANYTHING but that he is a nice guy. I think those people that don’t know him are making assumptions as to what his intentions were.

    And again, regardless of any of it, Danny can’t control his cousin. We are not talking about his immediate family. It’s a COUSIN, for God’s sake. With his large family, he might have a thousand. lol.

    About Danny’s Comcast quote. Two things: 1. Danny was having to type out his answers very fast and he is not the most articulate person in the world. I didn’t even necessarily take it to mean that he was saying that homosexuality was a belief. The main message was that he wanted to accept others and he wanted them to accept him. 2. That all being said, Danny is a conservative fundamentalist Christian. I don’t think that he can be expected in the course of 5 or 6 months to change everything that he has been believing for his life. If this is going to happen, it would take time. Unfortunately, I personally feel that with the way he’s been treated, it would do nothing but to make him feel like clinging to his religion, and I suppose all at entails. Just my guess.

    And make no mistake, Danny was being clobbered by everyone way before any kind of gay issue was ever brought up by him. Every facial expression, every word out of his mouth during his chats on tv, the clothes he wore, really everything he did was ragged on. He was constantly called a tool and a jerk….and he really had not done anything. When he didn’t get signed and the others did, people gloated and mocked. Yes, people have a right to do this. But it was still hateful

    The hate has been going on since at least mid April….the first time I ventured online. To be honest, I was utterly shocked at what I read. And I personally feel it is very hypocritical to have participated in that hate and then get all upset about any other type of hate.

    Hate is ALWAYS wrong.

    Edit: Let me just say once again, for the record, I am pro gay rights. I am not a Christian, but rather agnostic. I do think the way to fight against any form of hate is not to reciprocate with hate. I don’t think we are going to change the veiws of conservative Christians overnight, and I don’t think bashing them and ridiculing them in the name of your “cause” will do ANYTHING to make them see them light.

    I am really tired of this topic and ready to move on. I’m sure there are an endless amount of comments that we can make and we will all never agree here. I like both Danny and Adam, and I really wish everyone could just get along…pipe dream, I know.

  • revcat

    This was posted June 5, apparently Twitter has been used to attack Sarver because of his “in a godly way” statement.

    http://www.idletard.com/blog/archives/8355#more-8355

    I don’t really like Sarver or Gokey but am thinking all this Twit-crap is for the birds! Who needs it? Yes, you can block people but when it amounts to hundreds of tweeters, isn’t that time consuming?

    Seems like a “celebrity” having a Twitter account is like hanging a “Kick Me” sign around your neck.

    It won’t stop with Saver & Gokey.

  • revcat

    Sorry I somehow double posted when I was editing, misspelled Sarver as Saver, ironically. Anyway here is the tail end I attempted to add:

    Kris is right, Twitter is the devil’s work!
    :furious_tb:

  • aek

    Oh and just to respond to one other thing.

    About the above post. I am trying to understand these people (Adam’s brother and Danny’s cousin). For some reason people always think that if you try to understand the motivations behind something, you are excusing it. I am not excusing it, and am simply trying to get in their heads as best I can.

    I do think those comments made by friends of the girl are dispicable. But really, I didn’t even bother to read those. Friends of his cousin have EVEN LESS to do with Danny than his cousin…if that’s possible.

    Do you really want to start to get into what the friends of cousins think about the contestents? Really? To me, this is starting to get CRAZY.

  • terfra

    Danny appears to Pretend that he is devoid of intellectual curiosity – he definitely appears to be a mean spirited person. Hiding behind the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Oh I am a christian so how can I be mean? act – he really should go into acting, I think he would do so much better there than singing

    See, I don’t see where Danny has been mean spirited at any time.
    I have not seen where he didn’t get along well with all the idols, or said anything wrong.
    I really don’t see any difference between him or Adam and Kris in actions, words, or deeds.

    Danny never brought these things up or judged anyone.
    He can’t help that he is a Christian and shouldn’t have to apologise for it.
    I’m sure Adam feels that way about himself also.
    Adam said he is who he is and proud of it.
    Thats his right. But Danny has his right too.
    Some don’t agree with Adam and some don’t with Danny either.
    I guess I don’t understand the hating part just because of not agreeing with someone.
    I do not believe Adam hates Danny, or Danny hates Adam. I think there is mutual respect between them and acceptance of who they are.
    I truly don’t think that Danny, with the heart he has to help misfortunate kids and families, has a mean bone in his body.
    I think he has been the most misunderstood idol I have ever seen on the show.

    I think alot of the negativity on the internet causing Danny to be spurned, was because the issue of gayness came up this season with Adam, and sensitivities flared.
    Danny just happened to be one with the Christian background that teaches against that, and imo has been unjustly treated.
    I don’t believe these issues would have come up otherwise, and Danny was just unfortunate to be on with Adam this year. It may have happened to Kris without Danny being there.
    There have been many Christians that have been on AI every year with no doubt the same belief system as Danny.
    But he really hasn’t done anything but appear on the show and sing.

    I think thats all I am saying about this dead horse subject. I can’t help giving the other view in defense of Danny, or trying to be a voice for him.
    There are only about 3 Danny fans here on this thread and everyone else doesn’t like Danny, so I’m trying to just give my opinion without insulting or criticizing posters here.
    Thats not the intention for sure, just my point of view on Danny and who he really is.

  • Kradamfan

    Remember this?

    http://unapprovedroad.blogspot.com/2009/06/we-get-to-carry-each-other.html

    Love Kradam, let’s try to get this evolved before we die.

    :cool1_tb:

  • undercooked

    Wow, this topic certainly surpassed the Jeff Archeulta story. Yes, Danny got the “twit” kicked out of him but I suspect he ignored most of those messages once he knew what the gist of the comments were. I am very interested in what AI’s view is on tweeter-gate. Were there meetings held about it and how to handle it? I swear the PR department on AI has had to work overtime this season. And let’s face it, all of the idols have twitter now. Can you imagine them logging in seeing “dannyisadouche” trending at #1? I’m sure they had to have talked about it among themselves. I’ve only just started using twitter so I don’t know all of the ins and outs, but wow, it is fascinating. I was directed to the Danny twitter by a poster here. Once I saw it, I did ask myself “to twit or not to twit” question, but in the end, I decided to let this particular twit train pass me by. It was late at night and I was ready for bed.

    I still think that overall this was a learning experience for Danny and his family. Adam has been the target of horrible comments his whole teen and adult life. For Danny, it’s only been going on for a couple of months. Maybe this will help Danny to understand what it is like to be judged and misunderstood by people who don’t know you. Sometimes you really can’t understand what someone goes through until you do walk in their shoes. If Danny is a clueless as everyone says he is, maybe this woke him up. Maybe he can influence and educate his family.

    This AI season doesn’t appear to be a “run of the mill” season. I wasn’t around until the tail end of last year, so I can’t compare, so what does everyone else think?

  • lostinidol

    He canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t help that he is a Christian and shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have to apologise for it.
    Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sure Adam feels that way about himself also.
    Adam said he is who he is and proud of it.
    Thats his right. But Danny has his right too.

    Christianity is a choice. Danny could choose to become a Jew tomorrow or a Muslim or an agnostic. Adam can not choose to become a heterosexual. He can choose to live a heterosexual lifestyle despite how his brain is wired. He can deny his sexual desires directed at those of the same sex or he can choose celibacy. But Adam cannot become a heterosexual.

    No one is denying Danny’s right to be proud of who he is or his right to speak out on what he believes. However, the days when Danny was saying these things to his church of fellow believers are over. Danny chose the public spotlight and he chose to speak out. He could have just as easily said that Adam’s personal life is none of his business. Instead, Danny, by his comments, made clear he does not understand the most basic aspects of being gay. It is not only our right, but it is our responsiblity as human beings, to correct him and not allow his misinformation to be spread. I am sure he feels plenty of pressure as he probably has never been exposed to different beliefs or at least allowed to consider them. But he is an adult, and not even a young adult, and if he wants a public career, this is his education on what the public is thinking.

  • BootStar

    This just sums it all up for me!

  • Tess

    BootStar
    Jun 19th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
    This just sums it all up for me!

    thank you, thank you, thank you….

    this said it all!!

  • Cakenbake

    noctem seizure worte:

    Oh and as to the poster above, who reiterated the theme yet again that Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“actions speak louder than wordsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , I addressed that. He can demonstrate love to another person without approving of everything they do. Actions may speak louder than words, but they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t tell you what the words inside a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s head say either.

    “actions do speak louder than words”. noctem seizure, you are aware that SEVEN out of the top 10 Idols have deep Christian backgrounds, including Danny Gokey, not just Kris.

    Matt is a devout Christian, who started off singing and performing in his church. Many of his cd tracks are Christian themed music. Lil grew up singing in a choir like her mother in a evangelical church in Memphis TN. Michael is leader in his evangelical church in Texas. Allison grew up a devout Catholic and I have seen her in church photos that were taken recently. Scott performed in his church and also sings Christian songs.

    What I have seen is that many of them seem open minded to me and some don’t because “actions do speak louder than words”.

    In California 60 percent of Latinos and a whopping over 70 percent of African-Americans voted yes on 8 against Gay rights.

    So would you go down the line and ask each and every one of the contestants what they think of the Gay lifesytle?

    That would be rather fascist don’t you think…and I am Gay.

    What a way to make the tour WORSE and uncomfortable for Adam.

    As for me “people’s actions do speak louder than words.” and what I have seen from Kris it is pretty clear that he is accepting of Adam as a person and doesn’t judge him for being Gay…and that is why I like Kris.

  • lostinidol

    Oh and as to the poster above, who reiterated the theme yet again that Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“actions speak louder than wordsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , I addressed that. He can demonstrate love to another person without approving of everything they do. Actions may speak louder than words, but they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t tell you what the words inside a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s head say either.

    Actually, they have a word for this. Hypocrite. How does it work exactly? Kris comes up behind Adam when Adam is speaking to the press just after the final show and Kris throws his arms around Adam. But Kris thinks, “I will demonstrate love to Adam just for show but I really think gays are sinful and abhorrent in the eyes of God.”

    Sorry, but no matter how you try to paint the picture, either Kris is demonstrating Christ’s love or he is not. There are no astericks allowed for Kris’ private thoughts.

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