Originally published May 31, 2021: After making the Top 5 of American Idol, country singer Caleb Kennedy has had his American Idol dreams destroyed, and sadly, it was by his own doing, following the discovery of a video of him sitting next to someone who appears to be a friend and who appears to be wearing a Klu Klux Klan hood. A source close to American Idol shared with Parade.com, “American Idol contestant Caleb Kennedy will no longer be moving forward in the competition. Sunday’s episode will feature the Top 4 with a one-contestant elimination.” The 16-year-old high school student from Roebuck, S.C., took to Twitter and posted as well, writing: “Hey y’all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on American Idol. 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. I wanna say sorry to all my fans and everyone who I have let down. 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.” Due to the fact that Caleb is underage, we will not be linking to the clip. After Monday night’s semifinal episode, Luke Bryan commented on Caleb’s exit, saying, “First and foremost, as judges we love these kids. We get emotionally involved in these kids. We want the best for Caleb. As far as the nuances on how ABC gets viewed, either way, decisions got made and it’s our job as judges to show up and do our best job and comment on the kids who are in front of us. But we wish nothing but the best for Caleb.” And Lionel Richie added, “A lot of times, we grow up and we make mistakes and we look at our life behind us many times and we say, ‘God, what was I thinking about when I did that?’ This was one of those situations where we kind of gave him a big hug from the three of us. He definitely has a talent. The problem is, this is one of those unfortunate decisions that had to be made and we move on, but this will be remembered in his lifetime and he’ll know what it’s all about.” Caleb’s mother, Anita Guy, came to her son’s defense, releasing the following statement, according to MSN: “I hate this has happened and how Caleb is being portrayed by people online. 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. He loves everyone and has friends of all races.” American Idol will return on Sunday night when the Top 4—Willie Spence, Grace Kinstler, Casey Bishop and Chayce Beckham will take the stage. First, they will be divided into two groups to perform two songs by Finneas, who will serve as their mentor. Then, each artist will perform one song inspired by their personal idol and a second song that will be the debut of their new, recently recorded winner’s single, each produced by a renowned music producer.
