'American Idol' host Ryan Seacrest slammed for dodging Caleb Kennedy's 'KKK' clip: 'You're redneck idol'
Controversy keeps finding 'American Idol' with the latest being a top-five contestant getting removed for a racist video, host Ryan Seacrest is being slammed for not speaking appropriately about the issue.
The focus of outrage is the recent broadcast of the reality competition, where Seacrest decided to inform viewers that contestant Caleb Kennedy won't be participating any more. Seacrest did not add why Kennedy was being taken down and neither did he comment on the "racist" nature of the video where the singer was seen next to someone in a "KKK hood" back when he was allegedly 12. Although his mother has since defended the video, claiming its connotations were misconstrued, social media is raining heavily with criticism against the contestant. And now Seacrest is also under fire for not addressing the controversy on air.
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Seacrest slammed for 'Redneck Idol'
Seacrest announced that 16-year-old Kennedy wouldn't be returning on the May 16 episode of 'American Idol', opening the show with "Caleb Kennedy won't be competing so it's down to the final four". This propelled users to slam the show on social media as one tweeted, "What a huge surprise." Another slammed the nonchalance about the context of Kennedy resigning this Wednesday, tweeting "Seriously I don’t understand why all these people are just dismissing it and forgiving it when it isn’t their thing to forgive."
One user also went on an expletive-ridden rant, tweeting: "F**K YOU IDOL FOR RYAN JUST SAYING 'CALEB ISNT HERE.' YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID WHY AND YOU DO NOT TOLERATE HATE. BUT. HEY. YOU'RE REDNECK IDOL. SO WHY CHASTISE HATE TOO MUCH. JUST SWEEP IT UNDER THE RUG. FOOLS." Another commented, "So American idol completely dodged the issue tonight #calebkennedy#AmericanIdol."
Seriously I don’t understand why all these people are just dismissing it and forgiving it when it isn’t their thing to forgive
— Taylor Howard Grey (@TaylorHowardGr1) May 17, 2021
FÚCK YOU IDOL FOR RYAN JUST SAYING "CALEB ISNT HERE". YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID WHY AND YOU DO NOT TOLERATE HATE. BUT. HEY. YOU'RE REDNECK IDOL. SO WHY CHASTISE HATE TOO MUCH. JUST SWEEP IT UNDER THE RUG. FOOLS #AmericanIdol
— V3GAdigi (@V3GAdigi) May 17, 2021
So American idol completely dodged the issue tonight #calebkennedy #AmericanIdol
— Golfer007 ⛳🐕🐢 (@BD007123) May 17, 2021
The Caleb Kennedy 'KKK' row
Kennedy drew massive criticism after the video that was once on his social media was shared by an unknown TikTok account. Soon it spread all over Twitter after one user shared a screengrab of the TikTok video showing Kennedy next to a friend in a white hood with black solid dots for eyes. The tweet was captioned "please watch out for who you guys choose to support! Caleb Kennedy is extremely racist and prejudice!"
@AmericanIdol please watch out for who you guys choose to support! Caleb Kennedy is extremely racist and prejudice! #calebkennedy pic.twitter.com/00sCTkHIsm
— uzi$wife🖤 (@l8yl88) May 12, 2021
Kennedy's mother, Anita, has since shared in a statement to the Herald-Journal that the video is from years ago when Kennedy was just 12, and had just watched the movie 'The Strangers: Prey at Night'. "I hate this has happened and how Caleb is being portrayed by people online," the statement read, adding: "This video was taken after Caleb had watched the movie The Strangers: Prey at Night and they were imitating those characters. It had nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan, but I know that’s how it looks. Caleb doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. He loves everyone and has friends of all races.”
Kennedy however had issued an apology immediately after the video resurfaced, revealing his future on the show. "Hey y’all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on American Idol," he shared on his personal social media, adding "There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way. I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that’s not an excuse. I wanna say sorry to all my fans and everyone who I have let down.mI’ll be taking a little time off social media to better myself, but saying that, I know this has hurt and disappointed a lot of people and made people lose respect for me. I’m so sorry! I pray that I can one day regain your trust in who I am and have your respect! Thank you for supporting me.”