Fox takes heat for booting Frenchie from ‘Idol’

WASHINGTON–It’s OK for a contestant on Fox’s ”American Idol” to have worked as a stripper, as had Nikki McKibbin, who made it to the final three on the reality series’s first edition. And it’s peachy if a contestant on the network’s ”Joe Millionaire” has dressed up as a high school cheerleader in bondage and fetish flicks–like finalist Sarah Kozer.
But it is absolutely unacceptable for a contestant on the current edition of ”American Idol” to have appeared on a porn site four years ago. Ask Frenchie Davis, who got booted off the show for just that.
19 Entertainment, the company that produces the show and signs top finalists to recording contracts, and Fox abruptly pulled Davis from the show Tuesday night because she had appeared on a porn site that caters to male fantasies about young girls. Davis, a 23-year-old Howard University student, was older than 18 when she took the porn gig.
No trace of her remains on the ”American Idol” Web site, which now lists only 31 contestants. A new 32nd contestant will be announced soon, a network rep said.
Fox and 19 Entertainment had known for weeks about Davis’s porn site work. That’s because she volunteered the information in filling out paperwork required to participate on the show.
”She was upfront and honest about it,” one source said.
After having this information all this time, Fox and 19 made the decision to disqualify her because, the source explains, it took that long to discuss the situation with all parties involved.
That kind of talk is often another way of saying an advertiser blew a fuse.
According to a source, the parties determined that it’s one thing to perform in a strip club and another to pose on a Web site geared toward male fantasies about underage girls. So if you are thinking you might want to be a contestant on a Fox reality TV show in the future, confine your extracurricular activities to stripping or appearing on adult Web sites that cater to male fantasies about of-age@ women. (Apparently Kozer was portraying a very mature cheerleader in bondage.) This is good information to know.
According to the CourtTV Web site The Smoking Gun, Davis said she took the topless job to earn money so she could re-enroll at Howard, where she is a theater arts major. On the ”American Idol” Web site–before she was disappeared–Davis said that one of her proudest moments in life was ”getting back in school after not having the money and not being there for a year.”
Our various efforts to reach Davis Wednesday were unsuccessful. And the person who answered the telephone number for the theater department at the school said Davis ”was not going to be here for a while.” When asked why that was if school was in session, the person replied, ”I can’t give any information out on Frenchie Davis.”
19 Entertainment, hoping to appease ”American Idol” fans, issued a statement saying that it will ”endeavor to do all in its power to help Frenchie further her music career.”
Sorry, guys. Not good enough.
”Can you hear that ‘American Idol’ nazis?” ranted one of the more than 9,000 people who had signed the Bring Back Frenchie petition at www.petitiononline.com/frenchie/ petition.html by late Wednesday. ”It’s the sound of thousands of TV dials being turned away from Fox when the next ‘American Idol’ airs!”
Among the many other harsh comments:
—-”Unbelievable–Fox grows a moral compass? Please!”
—-”Reconsider this. It’s really going to be bad publicity if you keep her disqualified.”
—-”Are you crazy? Britney, Madonna–being an American Idol means being a Sexual Idol. Get over yourselves.”
—-”The same people who brought us ‘Temptation Island’ and ‘Bridezilla’ are suddenly so sanctimonious.”
—-”Is being in porn previously any worse than looking like a porn star after the record execs get hold of a new talent?”
—-”An embarrassing move for the Fox network, home of trash TV and questionable morals. You must honor the hype: ‘Let America Decide’ or simply call it ‘Fox Idol’ and let your execs, senior staff and producers make the decisions in-house. The winner can sing at the Fox X-mas party.”
And, our personal favorite:
—-”Fox is garbage. I will not watch ‘American Idol’ or Fox unless Frenchie is brought back. This is saying a lot; I am Amish.”