Caleb Kennedy officially no longer in the competition (will not be replaced)

[holinessss]

3 hours ago, Usisnww said:

He was probably like 14 when he posted that and teens don’t think before they post. They are taking a life opportunity away from him for something that just got interpreted racist cause the internet’s sensitive and is full of karens. That is just cruel and stupid. 

you're very much giving "hiding KKK regalia in their closet" energy

[KelseyW]

Good. He sucked and racists/cultists don't belong on Idol!

[Stacey.]

7 hours ago, redwood79 said:

 

This.^ No one is ruining his career. No one is saying he is inherently a bad person and can't change. But giving letting him go scot free and potentially actually win the competition would be so incredibly disrespectful to the centuries of oppression people of color faced in America to a terrorist organization. Also Franzel is very on brand for you. Just saying.

 

He was never going to win anyway and I'm pretty sure everybody knows that. That wouldn't be allowing him to "get away" with anything, everybody makes mistakes and does silly things when they're young that really don't need to be brought to people's attention, most of all when you're in the spotlight on a tv show. You're saying that his career won't be ruined, but you can damn well bet it'll hold him back. And lmao what on earth does Nicole have to do with any of this? 

[Sept390]

They should bring back Hunter 

[mrsvaledictorian2017]

Assuming there is still going to be a next season, I think an important lesson has been learned. The creators and producers of American Idol need to do a thorough background check on all of the contestants auditioning for American Idol next season to make sure they are actually interested in the show and  are not hiding anything that the public would not be happy about (Hannah Everhart, Cecil Ray Baker, and Caleb Kennedy). We should also try to prevent contestants from dropping out again like (Benson Boone and Wyatt Pike).

Edited May 13, 2021 by mrsvaledictorian2017

[Guest]

I agree with bringing back Hunter, lol. I doubt it would happen. 

 

Plenty of folks do stupid things when they're younger. As opposed as I am generally to cancel culture and even though this happened when this guy was even younger than he is now, the show can't really tolerate that kind of a thing. 

[CarmenSandiego]

10 hours ago, joe14 said:

Yeah trying to take up for him in here is not the move. He isn't getting punished for someone else's actions. He posted that video onto his social media account with full intent. From the caption to his facial expression, it's clear he was fully aware of what he was doing and thought it was a joke. Just because he wasn't the person wearing it does not mean he's absolved of any wrongdoing and from the role he played in the scenario. Add in the fact that he has pictures on his social media account wearing a MAGA hat and it is fair to conclude he might hold some sinister views. His mother's explanation sounds convenient and reeks of damage control. The mask in Stranger Things don't even resemble the one in the video. 

 

Make no mistake, he's not the victim. He can "grow" or whatever off the Idol stage.

Well, he might be a victim ... of his upbringing since his parents probably raised him to be someone who supported MAGA and the racist views that go along with it.  But that doesn’t mean that he should be let off the hook.  He may be an idiot but he still needs to learn a long overdue lesson about race in America.

[joe14]

34 minutes ago, CarmenSandiego said:

Well, he might be a victim ... of his upbringing since his parents probably raised him to be someone who supported MAGA and the racist views that go along with it.  But that doesn’t mean that he should be let off the hook.  He may be an idiot but he still needs to learn a long overdue lesson about race in America.

He's not a victim in this specific situation. Other comment is debatable but that wasn't my initial point. People are trying to place the blame on the friend and saying that "His friend should apologize to Caleb and his family and beg for their forgiveness" which is ridiculous. No one put a gun to his head and told him to post that video on his snapchat. He did that all on his own. I have low hope for accountability and growth when that's the narrative being pushed in his comment sections. Easy for him to believe he did nothing wrong w/ people saying things like that. 

 

Anyway, people like Willie don't deserve to be in an environment with someone posting a video like that so like I said before, he can grow and redeem himself somewhere else. It does not have to be at idol. 

Edited May 13, 2021 by joe14

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, CarmenSandiego said:

Well, he might be a victim ... of his upbringing since his parents probably raised him to be someone who supported MAGA and the racist views that go along with it.  But that doesn’t mean that he should be let off the hook.  He may be an idiot but he still needs to learn a long overdue lesson about race in America.

Not really right to speculate and even if someone was a supporter of former President Trump, it doesn't mean they're racist. Holy moly. Completely unfair conclusion to arrive at. Please keep it on topic. 

[mytake1]

Idol did the right thing.  They really had no choice, but to cut him.  It would have been a PR nightmare otherwise. 

 

I am not buying the 12 yr old kid defense.  We've seen people at that age commit some horrible crimes.

 

Also, when he found out the video was leaked, he scrambled and blocked people.  That came off like he was trying to save himself.

 

 

 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Shasta357 said:

This wasn't Caleb's fault. But the entire idea behind "Black Lives Matter" and holding people accountable is to stop forgiving 200 plus years of oppression and acknowledge the work that still needs to be done. If ABC had said "well, he was only a youth.." it would discredit the millions of African American young men and women who went through hell because of the KKK while Caleb (unknowingly and I blame his parents for this) took a photo next to someone wearing a hood that strictly says: Black Lives Don't Matter. 

When my father was young, someone in his town (might have been a neighboring one) put up a Nazi flag and flew it for all of about 10-15 minutes before the police came along and said ...you fool, take that nonsense down. They along with members of the community didn't destroy his character and reputation over a split-second action by some dumb kid. I think that's one of the main problems I have with how things are currently. No second chances, you make a mistake, you're done. It's not only people with higher profiles performing weekly on Idol, it extends down to your average person as well. 

[totes4totes]

lol why you caping for a racist drew. but then again i shouldn't be surprised. you always do try to make the milquetoast "both sides" bad takes imaginable. don't pretend like he was video'd with a MAGA hat and not with somebody dressed in the garb of one of the most known visibly racist terrorist organizations of the last 150 years in the US. lots of 12-year-olds know the KKK is bad.

 

also lol love white dudes (and white people) being like "cancel culture is bad" as if anybody gets really cancelled when they are a white man. (lol and as if the white men aren't doing most of the cancelling themselves )

[Weedy_Speedy]

1 minute ago, totes4totes said:

also lol love white dudes (and white people) being like "cancel culture is bad" as if anybody gets really cancelled when they are a white man. (lol and as if the white men aren't doing most of the cancelling themselves )

 

Yep. Nobody loves cancelling things more than white Republicans. Just ask Liz Cheney.

[Guest]

Just now, totes4totes said:

lol why you caping for a racist drew. but then again i shouldn't be surprised. you always do try to make the milquetoast "both sides" bad takes imaginable. don't pretend like he was video'd with a MAGA hat and not with somebody dressed in the garb of one of the most known visibly racist terrorist organizations of the last 150 years in the US. lots of 12-year-olds know the KKK is bad.

I don't know that he's a racist, neither do you. Could he be? Sure. I feel uncomfortable placing that label on someone that's not even an adult yet. He's guilty, at the very least of horrible judgment. I wasn't the one that brought the political angle into an area it didn't belong, that was someone else. At the end of the day, we're talking about private companies, ones where sponsors, shareholders are involved. They need to and will do what's best for them. I'm not mad, actions have consequences. It's the rampant speculation across the board whenever race is involved that really gets me. 

[Elliott]

32 minutes ago, Drew said:

When my father was young, someone in his town (might have been a neighboring one) put up a Nazi flag and flew it for all of about 10-15 minutes before the police came along and said ...you fool, take that nonsense down. They along with members of the community didn't destroy his character and reputation over a split-second action by some dumb kid. I think that's one of the main problems I have with how things are currently. No second chances, you make a mistake, you're done. It's not only people with higher profiles performing weekly on Idol, it extends down to your average person as well. 

But your friend’s dad wasn’t on a nationally broadcast TV show owned by Disney?
 

The video was going viral, and Caleb’s response of blocking everyone who was bringing it up on social media didn’t help the circumstances. Keeping him on the show - where one of the judges and one of his fellow competitors is black - would’ve been a terrible look for a show that’s supposed to be “nice” and “family friendly,” especially after all the controversy over The Bachelor earlier in the year.

 

Looking at the comments on his post about it, as well as the fact that Morgan Wallen’s streaming numbers went crazy after he was caught using the N-word, I doubt Caleb’s career will suffer at all from this. But given the circumstances, Idol/ABC/Disney (whomever ultimately made the call) did what they had to do.

[joe14]

4 minutes ago, Drew said:

I don't know that he's a racist, neither do you. Could he be? Sure. I feel uncomfortable placing that label on someone that's not even an adult yet. He's guilty, at the very least of horrible judgment. I wasn't the one that brought the political angle into an area it didn't belong, that was someone else. At the end of the day, we're talking about private companies, ones where sponsors, shareholders are involved. They need to and will do what's best for them. I'm not mad, actions have consequences. It's the rampant speculation across the board whenever race is involved that really gets me. 

I guess it wasn't the KKK hood that made this a race-based issue.

[totes4totes]

5 minutes ago, Drew said:

I don't know that he's a racist, neither do you. Could he be? Sure. I feel uncomfortable placing that label on someone that's not even an adult yet. He's guilty, at the very least of horrible judgment. I wasn't the one that brought the political angle into an area it didn't belong, that was someone else. At the end of the day, we're talking about private companies, ones where sponsors, shareholders are involved. They need to and will do what's best for them. I'm not mad, actions have consequences. It's the rampant speculation across the board whenever race is involved that really gets me. 

I feel very comfortable saying that somebody who was video'd buddying up with somebody dressed in KKK Garb is racist.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Elliott said:

But your friend’s dad wasn’t on a nationally broadcast TV show owned by Disney?
 

The video was going viral, and Caleb’s response of blocking everyone who was bringing it up on social media didn’t help the circumstances. Keeping him on the show - where one of the judges and one of his fellow competitors is black - would’ve been a terrible look for a show that’s supposed to be “nice” and “family friendly,” especially after all the controversy over The Bachelor earlier in the year.

 

Looking at the comments on his post about it, as well as the fact that Morgan Wallen’s streaming numbers went crazy after he was caught using the N-word, I doubt Caleb’s career will suffer at all from this. But given the circumstances, Idol/ABC/Disney (whomever ultimately made the call) did what they had to do.

You're clearly more up to date than me. I wasn't even aware of the Bachelor controversy, lol. No, I agree completely that due to the visibility someone has, the action was warranted. 

 

1 minute ago, totes4totes said:

I feel very comfortable saying that somebody who was video'd buddying up with somebody dressed in KKK Garb is racist.

Maybe that's the case. I don't know him, nor do I know the person he was apparently pictured next to. I've seen the comment made by his mother and I frankly don't know what to make of it. This story broke what, just about a full day ago? I don't like to immediately come out the gate condemning someone before we've had a chance to examine all the facts of a situation and over the past year plus, some folks feel very comfortable doing that. 

[totes4totes]

LOL imagine. Trying to be like "we don't know if this person who hangs out with a dude that likes to dress like he's a part of the KKK is racist." LOLOLOLOLOL couldn't be me.

 

but you know. whatever you have to do to give a white man the benefit of the doubt. sure.

[thenghreport]

Caleb won't suffer because of this disqualification. 

 

If anything, it will make him MORE LIKELY to get a record deal in the near future. The kid is going to be fine. He's talented, young, and, hopefully, will learn and grow from all of this.

 

But the excuse his mother gave is.... a yikes. Let me get this straight... the claim is that Caleb was a big fan of The Strangers: Prey At Night which is why he and his friend had that mask? That's the excuse?!

 

A. It's a Klan mask. It's obviously a Klan mask. There is no Klan mask in that movie. Even if the idea was just to put on a white mask... why did they have a Klan mask lying around to make that video?!

 

B. Being a fan of The Strangers: Prey At Night is reason enough for disqualification from the competition. It's a bad sequel.

[totes4totes]

also. the bar for being a racist isn't actively hating black people. you can be racist because you don't care about black people to the point where you are hanging out and making a snapchat with a person wearing a KKK hood. but if you want to keep caping for this white boy go for it drew. it only shows your true colors to the rest of IDF.

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, totes4totes said:

also. the bar for being a racist isn't actively hating black people. you can be racist because you don't care about black people to the point where you are hanging out and making a snapchat with a person wearing a KKK hood. but if you want to keep caping for this white boy go for it drew. it only shows your true colors to the rest of IDF.

I agree with what you've said being an example of racism. I'm not familiar with "caping" to be quite honest. Apparently I'm lying for this kid I don't know or even liked as contestant? In any given situation, if we're going to strip someone (speaking generally now) of their livelihood and reputation, I'd like to gather all the facts first. That's all. 

[jjeem]

2 hours ago, Drew said:

Not really right to speculate and even if someone was a supporter of former President Trump, it doesn't mean they're racist. Holy moly. Completely unfair conclusion to arrive at. Please keep it on topic. 

 

 

Mess.

 

This is not it

 

 

 

 

 

[kamil24]

well talent-wise we now have a very strong Final 4

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, jjeem said:

 

 

Mess.

 

This is not it

 

 

 

 

 

I agree overall, but I was responding at the time to someone who did put that forth. I admit in this instance, it didn't occur.