Another American Idol contestant is about to be bombarded by negative publicity.
This time around it’s 24-year-old David Hernandez who has been accused of working as stripper in male-oriented strip clubs.
It remains to be seen whether or not this will cause him to be disqualified from the contest. American Idol seems to have a pretty unreliable screening process for contestants, and also has a history of not dealing with violations of the rules in a fair manner—such as when Frenchie Davis was disqualified after her image surfaced on an adult website, but Antonella Barba was allowed to compete after adult photos of her surfaced.
It seems likely that the producers’ decisions on such matters have less to do with what’s fair, and more to do with grabbing ratings.
We don’t remember Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson or Chris Daughtry causing this much trouble, but so much controversy is bound to help the ratings of this already insanely popular show.
It is difficult to keep track of all of the controversy from naughty photos, failed careers and drugs, we’re taking a look at some of the most notable Idol scandals in recent memory.
Top American Idol Scandals:
American Idol Stripper
2008 American Idol finalist David Hernandez is the only contestant currently being accused of moonlighting as a stripper, but we wouldn’t be surprised to find out that some of the female contests had pasts as, um, dancers.
Naughty American Idol Photos
Antonella Barba (season six), Frenchie Davis (season two) and this year, season seven finalist Ramiele Mulaby have all had racy (or downright filthy) photos surface on the internet. Unfortunately for them, neither their photos, nor their singing, were very memorable. Ouch!
American Idol Adult Videos
Jessica Sierra—Following a landslide of legal and personal problems stemming from drug use, Sierra was hit with another blow when a company announced plans to release an adult movie starring the season four Idol wannabe, TMZ reports.
Olivia Mojica—This season two contestant released a video so filthy, it even horrified sleazy celeb gossip show/webite TMZ.
Controversial Pasts of Idol Contestants
Carly Smithson—This Irish singer not only appeared on Idol in the past, she also had a failed career as a big time popstar—a fact that has enraged bloggers who believe Idol is supposed to discover unknown talent, not waste more time/money promoting failed acts.
Robbie Carrico—Another has-been getting a second shot on Idol, Carrico was eliminated last week, but not before enduring harsh criticism over his musical and stylistic makeover. The former boy band singer was a member of Boyz N Girlz United, dated Britney Spears and has been accused of wearing a wig or hair weave. You decide, photos here.
Danny Noriega—Seems like a sweet young singer, but this season seven finalist posted a bratty video on his myspace page cursing and ranting against Christmas while embracing emo eyeliner. Nice.
American Idol Legal Trouble
This is just a small sample of the legal troubles faces many past contestants of American Idol.
Mario Vazquez—Accused of sexually harassing an Idol employee during his time there during season four.
Jessica Sierra—Yup, she made the naughty list twice. This time it’s for battery charges stemming from a cocaine-related arrest in Florida.
Amanda Overmyer—Another season seven finalist, this nurse was recently arrested for driving while intoxicated. So far, no charges have been filed over her awful Cruella DeVil black/white hairdo (see it here).
**Should controversial contestants be disqualified from Idol? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!
