News / Entertainment
American Idol to be Focus of Protest Rally
American Idol can’t seem to get past the Antonella Barb photo scandal that has drawn as much coverage as the show itself. Barba, a 20-year-old Point Pleasants, N.J. contestant, has had topless photos circulated on the internet by an anonymous poster and put American Idol producers in a precarious situation. Seemingly determined to take the high road and ignore the clamor surrounding the pictures, American Idol has yet to send Barba home.
While American Idol has shown support for Barba it has also led to several people crying “double-standard” over the way the show has handled the controversy.
Friends and fans of one time ‘Idol’ contestant Frenchie Davis have organized a protest rally on Tuesday directly outside the Kodak Theater where the show is broadcast. Four years ago Davies was booted off the show for her involvement with an adult website.
The protest rally is set for 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, but don’t expect a big turnout. Organizers of the rally have claimed that the photos of Barba involved in “hardcore porn” compared to Davis’ photos of lingerie modeling, have displayed an obvious double-standard set by the show.
Those “hardcore porn” photos of Barba have yet to be substantiated and are widely believed to be of somebody else.
A campaign has been set up by the organizers to get the public to vote Frenchie back on the show, four years after she was dismissed.
