Idol's Jermaine Jones Explains Hiding His Four Outstanding Warrants: "I Was Just Scared"
American Idol addressed the controversy surrounding now-former finalist Jermaine Jones one day after news broke that he had been booted for concealing past criminal charges.
Host Ryan Seacrest discussed the incident briefly at the beginning of Wednesday's show, saying producers received information from law enforcement officials "that left us with no choice but to eliminate one of our finalists from the competition. ... When you're doing a live show anything can happen."
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A little over an hour later, Idol aired the filmed meeting between Jones, 25, and executive producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick. The producers told Jones they had discovered that there were four outstanding warrants for Jones' arrest and that he had been arrested in both March and November of 2011 and gave fake names to the authorities.
"I just was scared, nervous," Jones told producers when they asked why he didn't disclose that information. "I didn't want to get judged. I didn't want to get penalized."
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Lythgoe explained that the show would have to let Jones go because they are prohibited from having anyone with an outstanding warrant on the reality series. "You are absolutely fantastic," he added, before the cameras showed Jones' rehearsal for this week's performance show. Jones was seen performing the tune "Somewhere Out There" with a string section behind him.
Jones thanked Lythgoe and Warwick for the opportunity, shook their hands and was last seen being driven off the set.
Are you sad Jermaine got kicked off? Should Fox have aired his meeting with producers?
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