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Singer feels mistreated and wants 'a public apology' from show.

(March 5, 2007)
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      *There is a new scandal brewing on “American Idol,” the Fox Network’s hit TV competition that is no stranger to incidents, which have led to the dismissal of one or two contestants.

      The latest involves 20-year-old contestant Antonella Barba who has been the subject of much speculation after pictures surfaced on the Internet showing a woman, purportedly Barba, lying on her back covered in rose petals, posing in her underwear, sitting on a toilet and performing oral sex on a man.

      And while such may have caused scandal in the past for the show, interestingly, the pornographic web photos are apparently of no concern this time around.

      That’s right; Barba has not been released from the show. A spokesman for the Fox Network only had to say that the show does not comment on contestant’s personal lives and even infamous judge Simon Cowell only reprimanded Barba’s so-called friends for leaking the photos. Yet and still, Barba’s alleged photos are not really the scandal.

      However, TV fans might recall four years ago, on season 2 of the show, when Franchelle “Frenchie” Davis was disqualified from the show for appearing topless in photos on the Internet. Scandalous!

      The show has been quite quiet about the Barba brouhaha as well as Barba herself, but Davis had a few things to say.

      “I had stopped watching ‘American Idol’,” Davis admitted, “and I’ve tried to avoid even speaking about or thinking about what happened four years ago. But I couldn’t help but overhear what was happening with Antonella. I couldn’t help but notice the manner in which she was dealt with was the complete opposite of how I was dealt with.”

Antonella Barba

        Another difference in the situations is that Davis actually told the producers about her, well, indiscretions beforehand.

      “When I first discovered that I had made it to Hollywood and found out I would be competing to get into the top 30 and then later in the top 12, they had given us all this paperwork to fill out, background checks and that whole thing. So when we were doing that I had a discussion with some members of the production staff and I exposed to them a piece of my past; that when I was 19 years old, I took some pictures and that’s not the person I am [anymore]. I wanted to be upfront about it. We talked about it and then nothing happened,” she said.

      Nothing happened at that point, but two months later, Davis was canned from the show.

      “They had decided that because ‘American Idol’ was a family show, that they could not have me on the show because of the pictures I had taken – though they had never seen the pictures,” she recalled.

      Davis told the EUR that no one was even able to find the pictures on the Internet and that the website the pictures were originally on didn’t even exist anymore.

      “I gave them the benefit of the doubt,” Davis said, resolved during the incident. “And when I learned that pictures had surfaced of this young lady, I didn’t really think anything of it. But when it came out that they had decided they were not going to kick her off the show, that – to say the least – raised an eyebrow.”

      To say the least. Let’s just add to the mix a few more differences in the situations: Davis’ photos, while topless, were modeling lingerie, Barba’s are of sex acts; Davis is plus size, Barba is thin; and then there’s the fact that Davis is black, Barba is white. Whichever ‘ism you wanna pick, among the double exposures is a double standard.

      Davis explained to EUR’s Lee Bailey that her humble reaction to the double standard is because she feels her fans expect that of her. Even when asked what she would like for the show to do to make it right, Davis couldn’t really think of what to demand, only joking that the network could write her a check. But after thinking about it, Davis contacted EUR through her rep and said that the Fox Network and the producers of “American Idol” could start by "issuing her a public apology and then she would negotiate with them from there."

Activist Najee Ali speaks to reporters

      And while Davis is a bit modest, though disappointed, Project Islamic Hope activist Najee Ali has taken up the singer’s cause and organized an “Anti ‘American Idol’ Rally” in support of Davis.

      “We feel a coalition of leaders [should] meet with Fox and ‘American Idol’ producers to set some guidelines down because they can’t have a rule for white contestants and have different rule for black contestants,” Ali said. “It’s obvious that it’s a racial bias ... when you have a situation where a black contestant is punished and a similar situation happens to a white contestant and there is no punishment and they’re allowed to continue on the show.”

      The rally and press conference will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, at 11 am in front of the Kodak Theater in Hollywood where the show is broadcast. Ali will be joined by season one “Idol” producer Tarvenia Jones, Davis (via phone), and Davis’ manager Belinda Foster. (For more on the rally, click here.)

      Just as Davis went on with her life after being booted from the show, she says that while she will speak out on the issue, she will continue to pursue her goals.

      “This is my career and this is what I want to do long term,” she said. “I’m certainly not interested in pissing people off, but this is an unfairness that can’t’ be ignored.”

      Davis is currently starring in “Rent” on Broadway, but is leaving the cast on May 24, to give herself more time to pursue other auditions and opportunities.

      After an equipment malfunction, EUR's Lee Bailey got Frenchie back on the phone to discuss her thoughts on the "American Idol" scandal and waht appears to be a double standard.  Listen below to the unedited interview.

 

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