American Idol has stumbled into controversy over the last month…
First, viewers of American Idol claimed Katy Perry was bullying a contestant!
Things then got even more serious.
As the contestant in question quit the show following Perry’s comments!
And that’s not all …
Perry is now being replaced on American Idol.
Plus, winner Iam Tongi was hit with accusations of rigging!
But now, Tongi has spoken out about the controversy.
Scroll on for the full story …
This all started earlier this year …
Kety Perry hit headlines for a rather negative reason.
Viewers of American Idol accused Perry of bullying a contestant!
One viewer wrote: “I really do not like how Katy Perry just treated Sara Beth on #AmericanIdol I don’t watch this show at all and my tv was already on the channel but what I witnessed was not right. They let Katy Perry bully this woman on live national tv before she even started singing. So ugly.”
Another wrote:: “Boo to Katy Perry for mom shaming Sara Beth. Insinuating that she has been “laying on the table too much” to have 3 kids by age 25. A young mother following a dream while raising her children should be raised up not put down. #AmericanIdol.”
Perry was slammed for telling the 25-year-old mom Sara Beth: “That’s not enough.”
“Show us what your voice can do. Take it to the limit. No looking back. Sing it like it’s your new dream,” she continued.
She also compared her to “a comic strip character just came to life.”
Sara Beth took to TikTok to call out the center judge out for the “hurtful” remark, saying: “Katy Perry made a joke that wasn’t super-kind. … It was embarrassing to have that on TV. … I think that mom-shaming is super-lame.”
Soon after, Sara Beth quit the show!
However, she has claimed Perry’s jokes had nothing to do with it.
“This opportunity is really rad, but this is actually going to be my last performance, because my heart’s at home. So, I’m going get home to my babies. They kind of need me,” she said, according to Yahoo.
Perry also tried to convince Sara Beth to stay in the competition.
“I know that life is scary. I also know that it’s easier to walk away than to be rejected. But, then, I also know that you lose out on your fullest potential,” Perry told her. “And I know that you love your family, for your kids. I know that as a mother, but remember self-love is just as big as motherly love. Don’t leave the competition.”
Sara Beth has also spoken out on TikTok.
She explains her “heart is grateful” following the situation, adding: “Sometimes we are presented with big opportunities and situations and we have to make big decisions.”
“They reached out to me. And I’m so GRATEFUL,” she wrote, “I’ve never had this support with singing.”
“I’m also allowed to make hard choices that are best for me. I took a chance on something big and said yes to a huge and VERY UNEXPECTED opportunity that was presented to me.”
Perry was then temporarily replaced on American Idol.
As Perry was in the UK in preparation for the coronation of King Charles.
“It’s big time. It’s big time,” Luke Bryan told Entertainment Tonight.
“The people that we have filling in, contestants have used their songs many, many times.”
But that’s not the only controversy this season has faced.
As after Iam Tongi was pronounced the winner, the internet was not happy.
“American Idol is rigged. Colin Stough was the best one out there. Big Hawaiian dude that has the best sob story is going to win. American Idol, I thought it was about talent,” one user Tweeted.
ICYMI, Tongi’s backstory on the competition was the tragic death of his father.
After his father passed from Stage 4 kidney disease, Tongi used his guitar on stage for the majority of his live performances.
“I always wanted to play my dad’s guitar,” stated Tongi.
“It’s not a bad thing to talk about your problems and what you go through.”
And it seems as though Tongi is not letting the riggory claims get him down!
“It’s amazing,” Tongi, 18, told TV Insider. “I was so happy everyone voted. Thank you to everyone. Now that I’m the ‘Idol’ of the 21st season, it’s crazy.”
Do you think the season was rigged?