Disgruntled Clay Aiken Fans File FTC Complaint
Posted on | February 28, 2006
I swore I was not going to write another post about it but here I am doing it…
About a week or so ago I caught a flash somewhere, I think it was VH1’s Best Week Ever blog, about some of Clay Aiken’s fans planning to sue the singer and his label for fraud in the wake of the whole gay thing. This all started when John Paulus, a 38 year-old former Army Ranger turned porn star, came forward with allegations that he had a bareback sexual encounter with Aiken which left him feeling used by the American Idol runner-up. Paulus claimed he preserved the washcloth used to clean up the semen from the encounter to prove his claim. He took a polygraph test for the National Enquirer which broke the story and he did pass. Paulus will make his debut on Lucas Entertainment’s Auditions 8 which will be released March 15th.
When I first heard about the lawsuit, I thought it was a joke because when I first read about it, I could not find anything else on it and I like to have at least two different sources before I present something. According to the little news story I saw on it, the fans were remaining anonymous because they were scared of Aiken’s other fans exacting revenge on them. Apparently they are not ones to be fucked with either because a friend of Paulus’ told the New York Post’s Page Six that Paulus had been getting death threats after the story went public.
But now the nine disgruntled fans have carried out their threat of legal action and filed a claim with the Federal Trade Commission saying that Aiken and his label essentially committed Fraud. The group of women pressing the complaint state the following:
"This is tantamount to a manufacturer concealing information about a defective product. Therefore these actions were both unfair and deceptive to consumers."
"As consumers, we feel ripped off. It is obvious now that the private Clay is very different from the manufactured packaged public Clay that was marketed to us."
I ultimately think the FTC will dismiss the claim. Tom Cruise provides the perfect thing for them to cite because he has dodged gay rumors a lot recently. He even had a situation that closely mirrors Aiken’s in the form of porn star Chad Slater, who goes by the stage name Kyle Brandon, claiming he had sex with Cruise. In spite of all the accusations, innuendos, and speculation it has yet to be proven that Cruise is gay. While I question his defending his proclaimed heterosexuality with lawyers when other celebrities dodging the same rumors choose to simply shrug them off, I still cannot say "I think Tom Cruise is gay" because I have no hard evidence. While in Aiken’s case his accuser did take and pass a polygraph taken at the request of The National Enquirer who broke the story, it is still questionable since polygraphs only measure deception so if Paulus believes he had sex with Aiken he would pass even if the supposed encounter never happened.
I have to laugh at this though because it is just so childish and stupid. They liked Clay’s singing and such before Paulus came around. So the only variable that has changed is Aiken’s alleged sexuality. I say alleged because it has yet to be actually proven that Clay Aiken is gay. So in essence they have no claim. To me this is just good ‘ol fashioned anti-gay bigotry coming into play again. If Clay Aiken is truly outted or decides to come out of his own volition his singing talent is not going to suddenly change and make him better or worse.
It also begs the question of talent versus image. Some people dislike the old image Madonna had during the time in her career of the Sex book and videos like "Justify My Love" but do you really think she would have had a career spanning over twenty years if people did not like her music in and of itself? Just look at people like Cher and Tina Turner who have careers spanning over forty years. And to be fair, I think the people who will start being Clay Aiken fans because of his alleged homosexuality are equally stupid. An artist being gay may prompt me to check out their work because I do believe in supporting gay artists. But if I do no like their music then I will not be their fan. It is just that simple.
Blog Links:
External Links:
- Contact Music - Aiken Fans Make Good on Their Promise
- Lucas Entertainment (Not Work Safe)
- The National Ledger - American Idol Clay Aiken’s Gay Sex Allegations
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