Caleb Kennedy departed from American Idol on Wednesday, May 12, due to a controversial video that surfaced online and now his mom Anita Guy is speaking out!
On Wednesday, May 12, a video surfaced on social media which allegedly shows Kennedy sitting on a couch next to someone wearing racist attire. The brief 3-second clip first appeared on Kennedy’s Snapchat of him sitting next to someone that was wearing a white KKK hood with a caption that reads, “bow, oh my.”
However, according to Kennedy’s mom, Anita Guy, the internet is depicting the situation completely wrong and they were not referencing racist paraphernalia but a movie that her son watched. Now, following Kennedy’s departure, his mom Anita is speaking out.
Guy says the aforementioned video clip was taken when her son Kennedy was only 12 years old. And he was actually imitating characters from a movie he and his friend were watching earlier that evening on the night that the aforementioned clip was filmed.
“I hate this has happened and how Caleb is being portrayed by people online,” Guy explained to the Herald-Journal. “This video was taken after Caleb had watched the movie The Strangers: Prey at Night and they were imitating those characters. It had nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan, but I know that’s how it looks.”
“Caleb doesn’t have a racist bone in his body,” the American Idol contestant’s mom added. “He loves everyone and has friends of all races.”
Additionally, earlier Wednesday (May 12) evening, the fan-favorite 16-year-old Idol contestant addressed the situation in a lengthy message to fans on the reason for his departure from the popular singing competition show.
An update from me, about American Idol. pic.twitter.com/uuHc2sSiM4
— Caleb Kennedy (@calebkennedy) May 12, 2021
“Hey y’all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on American Idol,” Kennedy explained. “There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way. I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that’s not an excuse.”
Kennedy then apologized to his supporters and everyone who has voted for him during his Idol journey.
“I wanna say sorry to all my fans and everyone who I have let down,” Kennedy added. “I’ll be taking a little time off social media to better myself, but saying that, I know this has hurt and disappointed a lot of people and made people lose respect for me. I’m so sorry! I pray that I can one day regain your trust in who I am and have your respect! Thank you for supporting me.”
Caleb Kennedy landed a slot in the Top 5 of the show earlier this week. During the season, he performed songs such as “Midnight Train to Memphis” by Chris Stapleton, “On the Road, Again” by Willie Nelson and even sang a duet with country superstar Jason Aldean.
A source close to American Idol told Music Mayhem that contestant Caleb Kennedy will no longer be moving forward in the competition and Sunday’s episode will feature the Top 4 with one contestant elimination.
No official statement has been released by American Idol as of yet.