The lawsuit from 10 American Idol castoffs who are accusing the show of racism was INDEED filed in court. And if you’ve got the time and the inclination, you can read all 429 pages at The Hollywood Reporter. Click Here.
Not going to lie–no way I’m going to read it, but I’ll post a few of the choice cuts that THR found. The lawyer, James H. Freeman, filed a 219 page lawsuit against Lionsgate–a film company–for $500 million dollars on behalf of producers who attempted to “parody” (or rip off, depending on how you look at it) The Twilight movie franchise.
….the complaint is, at very least, ambitious in scope. Besides filing a supersized lawsuit, the plaintiffs are not just suing Fox Broadcasting, Fremantle and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe; they are also suing many of Idol‘s corporate sponsors including Ford Motors, Coca-Cola and AT&T. In fact, the $250 million lawsuit comes amid a proposed class action on behalf of “Black Golden Ticket Holders” (2002-12, males only) that puts the defendants into four groups — “Production,” “Network,” “Overseer” and “Sponsor.”
Class action lawsuit? FREE FOR ALL GRAB YOUR POPCORN Y’ALL.
Basically, the lawsuit completely ignores positive outcomes (because we all know that four of the 12 Idol winners are African American) to focus on disqualifications.
“Rather than allow them to compete for the valuable prizes on the basis of their individual merit as artists, the program’s top senior executives, British showrunners Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick ran interference on them, sabotaging their promising careers as recording artists and gutting them of the opportunity they rightfully earned to become the next American Idol. Why? Because the Plaintiffs’ identities could be used to scandal-monger Nielsen ratings while reinforcing the age-old stereotype of the ‘black criminal.'”
This makes no sense. How can it be proved that “negative editing” had anything to do with race? The audition/Hollywood phase of Idol is all about making hopefuls look bad for entertainment purposes. Humiliation has always been an equal opportunity endeavor for American Idol producers.
WHAT????
“A staggering thirty-one percent (31%) of every American Idol Semi-Finalist contestant [Top 24, Top 36-40] who happened to be a young Black male was disqualified from the singing competition for reasons wholly unrelated to their singing talent. Even though there were three (3) times as many White (or non-black) contestants featured on American Idol over the course of ten years, there has never been a single White (or non-black) contestant disqualified from American Idol – not ever.”
This is patently FALSE. Joanna Pacitti, super WHITE female contestant was disqualified for just LIVING IN THE SAME CONDO COMPLEX as a 19 executive! And that’s just one example! I’m sure there’s more.
The lawsuit objects to the way “producers have dissemintated and exploited the criminal background of the show’s black contestants.” Bo Bice and Scott Savol, white contestants from Season 4, both had their arrest records leaked to the press, somehow. It’s not just black contestants who wind up on TMZ or the Smoking Gun.
The lawsuit also charges that white contestants on the show are allowed to “choose whatever song they preferred” while black contestants are “pigeon-holed … into selecting songs … as ‘genre-appropriate.'” BWAHAHAHA. This lawyer dude has obviously never watched Idol.
“The American criminal justice system has historically served as a focal point of much of societal racism. A long legacy of practices such as the convict leasing system, extrajudicial lynchings, and police brutality have shaped the history of African-Americans and the criminal justice system.”
WTF? It’s a freaking reality show. It’s literally offensive to bring the very real and terrible injustices perpetrated against African Americans into this frivolous lawsuit.
HA HA HA. Willy Wonka? Really?
“Plaintiffs herein seek rescission of the American Idol CONTESTANT AGREEMENT, an illusory device that carries on the theme of the ‘Golden Ticket’ and the ominous, illegible contract presented to the children at the gateway of the ‘Willy Wonka’ chocolate factory. Like the fantasical [sic] depiction of the visually warped contractual language in the famed 1971 movie, the American Idol CONTESTANT AGREEMENT strains all levels of comprehension in its mindbending labyrinth of non-sensical provisions.”
Uhm.
“Applying the definition of ‘casting’ to the matter here, the only segment of the American Idol season that could possibly be described as a ‘casting’ would be the Open Audition rounds where various sorts of decidedly meritless singers are used for comic effect. Such performers have been ‘cast’ because the Overseer Defendants already know they are not getting a Golden Ticket. But once a Golden Ticket has been awarded to a prospective contestant, they have been deemed qualified to compete in American Idol by the Panel of Expert Judges and, therefore, they have become actual (rather than prospective) contestants. At that point, the contest has begun.”
No. The contestants are “cast” from beginning to end. American Idol is not classified as a game show. Although the stakes are high, including a prize that has the possibility of making the winner a singing star, American Idol is still an entertainment/reality show, and I’ll bet there is legalease somewhere in the Idol contracts that make that point.
There are hurdles for the plaintiffs to cross, including matters of jurisdiction, First Amendment rights and more. We’ll see if this case actually makes it to court.
