Corey’s Story Has Holes, But We Still Need Answers from Paula

I watched the Primetime Live “Fallen Idol” special fully expecting it to have nothing more than innuendo and baseless allegations. But ABC surprised me – they held their best evidence in reserve, springing it on the audience rather than alluding to it ahead of time.

Still, not all of the allegations and information provided holds up to scrutiny, and I, for one, am still not convinced. Let’s take a look.

I have some problems with parts of Corey’s stories. For example, as we all know from having watched AI2, Corey was out almost all night and got pretty much no sleep before the audition in which he serenaded Paula (that’s why he forgot the words and had to resort to the serenade). He was a party animal and the camera teams knew it. Yet that very night after the serenade – the night after he had been up all night once already – there were no cameras around when he snuck out. Plus, he said he went to her house and talked all night. So he got basically no sleep for two straight nights?

Later in his discussion, we heard that the singers were locked in a hotel, but then immediately after that we heard that Paula and Corey went together to a Sprint store. How did they do that? We didn’t get an explanation. We also didn’t get an on-camera interview with the Sprint employee who claims he saw them in there together. Why not? And also, are we to believe that Paula went through all this super-secret stuff only to run around in broad daylight with Corey? Why would she need him at the store anyway? There are lots of holes in that one.

During Corey’s story, he seemed to have skipped mention of how he and Paula managed to get together while he was supposed to be locked in a house with the other finalists. The tale talked about them together beforehand, leading to the Top 32, and then say the relationship ended when he was booted. Why skip the most important part during the finals? I have an answer – because the other finalists, like Clay and Carmen, said they saw no sign of anything then. So by not talking about it at all, Corey avoided having to answer these questions.

What about the evidence that was presented? The phone bills are pretty solid evidence that something was going on. In fact, I would call those the most damning piece of evidence that Corey has going in his favor.

What about the bottle of cough medicine? For all we know, that could have been retrieved out of a garbage can, for all we know. Or he could have had a cough and she offered it to him.

The paper with the phone number that Corey was supposedly given by a friend of Paula’s? It could have been written by anybody. I bet with enough time (and he’s had two years), I could find out her number, too.

Anybody could also find out the names of her dogs, no sweat. I’m sure it’s been in countless magazine articles and TV shows. Similarly, the location of her house could be easily discovered. What about the inside of her house? I recall (and some readers have verified) that we took a tour of at least part of Paula’s house a year or two ago. I don’t recall what part of the house, but it did strike me as odd that Corey could only describe the guest bedroom. I’m also sure that Paula has had the cameras inside her house for other entertainment shows and the like. Again, all of this information could have been discovered with a little work.

What about her phone messages telling Corey not to talk to the press? Well, she really didn’t say much in them except not to talk to the press. Maybe she had an indication that the press was going to talk to him and just wanted to warn him – we don’t really know what she was thinking. Furthermore, the day before the show aired, Paula accused Corey of tricking her on the phone and taping her, then splicing things together. Primetime did not indicate if they had the tapes tested for that type of manipulation.

Some have asked how she would know his phone number. Again, just about anybody can find out just about anybody else’s phone number without much effort. And let’s remember that if the allegations are true and she had talked to him on his cell phones during his time on Idol, those were different cell phones – one issued by Idol and one by Paula herself. So it’s not evidence that she had his number and kept it, because it had to be a new number.

What about the statements from Corey’s friends and parents? While we can’t say flat-out that they were lying, we can say that they are, well, Corey’s friends and parents. If anybody is likely to support him, those would be the people.

But besides that, Corey’s friends say they not only talked to Paula on the phone, but actually met her at a club. Once again, we have the issue that Paula supposedly went through all kinds of James Bond type actions to keep the affair a secret, but then showed up in public with Corey? That definitely does not have the ring of truth to it.

There is a lot of very circumstantial evidence here, and a few pieces of something more solid. Some people believe that where there is smoke, there is fire. Unfortunately, I know that where there is smoke, there can also be mirrors, and all we’re seeing is deception.

With all of this said, I think there is some evidence that something strange and possibly inappropriate was going on here. Paula needs to respond to it. Simply saying, “He’s lying, don’t believe him,” isn’t going to cut it when there are phone records that seem to support him. She needs to come up with a better explanation, and fast. If she fails to do so, many people will assume it's true. And if people assume it’s true, Idol has a problem they need to deal with.

At the very least, there is currently a problem with the appearance of impropriety. Corey may have plenty of holes in his story, but there is enough there to raise serious questions. If Paula cannot rebut the charges, she needs to resign at the end of this season. I cannot see any other way out of this for her or for Idol: Either Paula comes up with counter-evidence, or Paula leaves.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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