American Idol 6: Despite What Activist Says, Antonella Situation Not a Double-Standard

Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get weirder in the whole American Idol Antonella Barba photo scandal, they did just that.

The latest news has nothing to do with Antonella herself, though. Now a civil rights advocate has picked up this ball and is running with it, claiming Idol is guilty of a “double-standard” because Antonella is still there while Frenchie Davis was booted in the second season.

I suppose something like this was only a matter of time, and in past articles I’ve already explained briefly why these matters are different. But it looks like it’s time to do so again, and in more detail. First, what’s going on now?

Najee Ali, a civil rights advocate with Project Islamic Hope, is planning a rally and press conference in front of the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, which is where Idol live shows are staged. The big shebang is scheduled for 11 am on Tuesday. In addition to Ali, season one Idol producer Tarvenia Jones and Frenchie’s manager, Belinda Foster, are supposed to attend. Frenchie herself will apparently be hooked in by phone. According to EURweb.com, Ali “is known for his no nonsense, take no prisoners style of speaking out on current issues.” So I can only imagine what he’s going to have to say.

Okay, so we don’t have to imagine much. Information about the rally indicates that the public is encouraged to join because of the “IDOL MELTDOWN on the DOUBLE STANDARD that is plaguing the current season with its current contestants” (emphasis in the original). Ali would apparently also like for “Davis [to] be brought back on ‘Idol’ now.” Uh huh. And the point of that would be… what?

As most readers know, Frenchie was removed from Idol because she had appeared in topless photos, in suggestive poses, on a website called “Daddy’s Little Girls” that was geared to men who want underage women (Frenchie herself was not underage at the time). At the time, she claimed to ETONLINE that she “modeled in lingerie on an adult Web site,” and added, “From what I hear, the Web site is under new ownership and it’s a lot different now than when I worked for it.” The implication was that it wasn’t aimed at men who want underage girls at the time.

Since then, she has made her own way in the entertainment business, doing well and gaining applause wherever she has gone. She is currently starring in Rent on Broadway. So why would she even want to be put back on American Idol? It doesn’t make sense. And of course, the organizers have to know that. In other words, the whole thing is a ridiculous publicity stunt.

Putting that aside, let’s look at the facts in the Antonella case and compare them with the facts of the Frenchie situation. As far as we know, Antonella never posed nude, semi-nude, provocatively, etc. for money. We can argue about the reasons Frenchie did it – she said at the time it was because she needed money for college, which is admirable, but the fact is that she did it. All of the verified photos of Antonella that have come out have been either from photos she intended for her then-boyfriend or photos from her out having fun. None of these, as far as we know, were ever supposed to see the light of day, let alone getting distributed across the internet!

Then there are the hardcore photos. Supporters of the rally have pointed out that these pictures are much worse than the ones of Frenchie, and they are now all over the place. The problem is that the identity of the woman in these pictures is still unverified. Does it look like Antonella? Yes. But nobody has come out yet and said, unequivocally, “This is Antonella and I can prove it.” Indeed, several people have pointed to discrepancies they claim prove it’s not Antonella. Personally, I simply say we don’t know.

But I do know one thing: If Idol believed those photos were of Antonella, she’d be gone. There is no doubt in my mind about this. And I’m also sure the producers, advertisers, Fox executives, etc. have all been looking at these photos and analyzing them. While I do wish they would come out with a definitive statement saying, “We do not believe this is her,” I think they are just taking the safe way out by saying nothing – and perhaps they believe it will all die down if they don’t raise the issue.

But obviously, it’s not dying down yet. Some people are trying to make this into an issue for their own purposes. I’m not quite sure what those purposes are, other than trying to use Idol to get into the spotlight. As noted above, they have to know they are not going to get Frenchie back into Idol years later. And I cannot imagine she would want to be there! This is not a case of racism, but of significant differences between the cases.

Besides, even if it were an identical situation in terms of photos, would it be so horrible if Idol decided not to boot the person in question this time? There was an uproar of people feeling it was unfair to kick Frenchie off, so is it possible they learned that such pictures were not the end of the world? Do two wrongs make a right?

But we’ll leave aside that hypothetical question for now. The simple fact is that the situations are different, and it has nothing to do with color or getting Frenchie back or anything else like that. Suggesting the Idol producers have a double standard because of race ignores the fact that two out of five of the winning Idols have been African-American. That’s 40%, which certainly exceeds the African-American population in the U.S. And over half of the semi-finalists for this round are minorities.

The situation with Antonella may be many things, but it is not a double-standard.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent articles on Foxes On Idol:

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

Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of our articles, check out our sections on American Idol, American Juniors, Nashville Star, and Canadian Idol. Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows.

For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot: American Idol, SirLinksALot: Antonella Barba and Reality TV Fever!