American Idol 2019 winner Laine Hardy on his own: Opens a GoFundMe to fund music, abruptly disables donations
What’s up with American Idol 2019 winner Laine Hardy? The singer is working to move on with his music career after he was arrested in 2022 for illegally wiretapping an ex-girlfriend. He entered a first-time offenders program earlier this year run by the Louisiana District Attorney’s office that would expunge his record after completion.
But after losing his record deal with 19 Recordings/Hollywood Records, he’s out on his own as an independent artist. Weirdly, he started GoFundMe campaign two days ago (Oct 15), with the goal of raising 100K, funds that would go toward recording and tour costs. But then on Tuesday (Oct 17) the account abruptly disabled new donations after raising almost 4K.
“Hey y’all Laine Hardy trying to raise funds to record music in studios, pay for travel expenses back and forth from Nashville, and use money raised to promote my music by touring,” Laine wrote at the time he opened the fundraiser. “It’s a dream I’ve always had and I need y’all to make it come true. All donations go strictly to music production, instruments, DAW software plugins, my chicken coop studio equipment. Anything and everything music. I’m grateful for any donation.“
Also, it’s odd that Laine has not mentioned the fundraiser on any of his social media posts. I discovered it in a write up about it on Country Now.
Laine posted a heartfelt post earlier this month sharing about beginning a new chapter
Although Laine didn’t promote the fundraiser on his socials, he did write an earnest post on October 5, that shared how he was looking forward to next steps. “Looking forward to this next chapter of my life. I’ve learned to just simply be grateful for anything, good/bad, positive/negative,” Laine wrote. “It shapes you from who you were to how you were to how you are to who you are now.”
He talked about leaning on his spiritual side for strength. “Gods word became a crutch for me throughout this process & it will stick like glue forever. He loves & accepts everyone, I’m no different than any of you. He’s a prayer away! All of my praise goes unto him & glory always to Him for my success before, now, and hereafter. (Ephesians 6:10-18) Also Isaiah 28:16.”
At this point, there is no reason Laine can’t move on from past mistakes, especially now that his record is presumably cleared. Even American Idol featured him earlier this year during the show’s audition rounds as he gave encouragement to hopefuls getting ready to sing for the judges.
But why would he open a GoFundMe and then cut off donations without no explanation? Maybe Laine will clear up the confusion soon.
