Vote for the Worst had the pleasure of talking to Justin Buckles, a former staff member for American Idol. His time on the show has led him to help create The American Idol Truth Tour to expose the poor conditions that Idol workers face to produce the country's #1 show. Read on to see the kinds of poor conditions that Justin worked in, why he's speaking up, and if the contestants on the show get the same raw deal.

How did you get a job at Fremantle working for American Idol?

A friend gave the show my name and number and told them I was available to work, so they gave me a call.

What was your exact job title and were you ever given a copy of the description?

I was not given any description of what my duties were, no one is given a description. You are thrown into the office and just expected to know how things work. When I left the show I was the Head Runner, which is nothing more than a production assistant that had been there the longest. I was demoted, in title and pay, when we returned from the audition tour. I was lied to when we went out on the road and told that I would be moving up to another position when we returned from the road, but that never happened and instead they demoted me and brought someone else to fill that position. That was when I started looking for another job.

What was a typical day like working on American Idol? What did you normally do?

A typical day was a 7am arrive, 8-9pm leave. Duties varied from day to day, again we were basically all slaves to the show and if we did not like what we were doing and decided to speak up about it we were threatened. There were days I did laundry, cleaned dressing rooms, filled up the passenger vehicles with gas, dealt with catering, etc... Again, they varied day to day.

When you took your job, were you aware of the poor conditions that existed at Fremantle, such as not being paid for overtime or working what you referred to as “140 hours a week”?

No, I was not aware of these conditions. I was told to expect to work 12 hour days, which is a typical production day. I was also told that the show does not fall under the standard 9-5, or 8 hour work day, and that they could work me 12 to 20 hours a day and still pay me the exact same thing. Overtime pay was not an option, as they show did not pay it.

You say that you were threatened with being blacklisted if you spoke out about the conditions you faced while working on the show. We can relate to the intimidation, as Fremantle lawyers have contacted VFTW on three occasions. What made you eventually decide to speak up?

I am speaking out about it because what they are doing is illegal. They are working employees to the bone and not paying correctly or giving adequate meal and rest periods, per the California state law. If your boss, or any other person for that matter, verbally attacks and abuses you on a regular basis, as well as threatens to blacklist you and make sure you don't work again you need to speak out and stand up for yourself.

I've been told time and time again that what I am doing takes a lot of courage and is very risky, but it's not in my opinion. I don't think standing up for yourself is courageous or risky, it's what we all need to do in order to be respected. We all need to stand up for ourselves when we are done wrong, and if you don't, then you're going to be walked all over the rest of you life. In other countries citizens protest all the time against the government and their employers in order to get what is rightfully theirs and to be respected and 99% of the time it works in their favor. We don't do that here, instead we just continue to let the negative actions happen in the hopes that one day it will change. If you want something to change you have to make it happen and that action can start with just one person.

You’ve commented that when you quit your job working on Idol, you gave your two weeks notice, but were then verbally assaulted by your supervisor, Wylleen May. What was it like working in such a hostile environment?

It's like walking on eggshells. If you misstep you better be prepared to be yelled at and belittled for the next several minutes. Called every name in the book and told time and time again that you completely replaceable and worthless. When someone messes up on the job there's a right way and wrong way to speak to them. Screaming at someone and calling them every name in the book is not the right way to handle a situation, not only does it make you look like a fool, but it also shows your true character and shows just how uneducated you really are because you know no other way to handle a situation.

She sounds classy. Was anyone else on the show completely awful behind the scenes, or on the other hand, was anyone actually nice to work with?

I enjoyed the team when I was there. The only person who was terrible to work with was Wylleen because she has anger control issues and verbally attacks and abuses her employees.

What led you to help start the American Idol Truth Tour?

I was young and naive when I was hired to work on the show. I was lied to from day one. Morally I need to speak out about this. I was completely taken advantage of and exploited while I was working there. If I can help others avoid getting into a situation by speaking out about it then I feel I must do it. Young people moving to Hollywood need to know that kind of behavior exists and they need to know their rights.

Why did the Writer’s Guild of America join your cause, even though you are not a writer, and not all of the people involved with the tour are writers?

The Writers Guild wants to help change Hollywood for workers in all genres. They want all employees to get treated with the respect and pay that they all deserve. The Writers Guild is looking at this a whole. If there's a positive change in one area, then there's a chance that that could trickle down to another area, and so on an so forth. Like a domino effect. I feel very privileged that the Writers Guild is so behind the cause and willing to help in any way that they can.

They do seem to be very outspoken, so I'm sure that's a huge help. What do you hope to accomplish with the Tour?

I want to spread the word about how Hollywood can be so hopefully young individuals are not taken advantage of and exploited the way that I was.

Being that the staff gets a raw deal, are the contestants on the show also taken advantage of, or are they treated better? For example, do the contestants get paid for their time on things such as the Ford commercials?

Former contestants have been very vocal about this, as has the other host from the first season. They would have no reason to make it up. I would trust what they say and I am behind what they say 100%.

That's what we figured. Do you feel that American Idol is helping or hurting more of the people who try out for the show?

I do not agree with how they exploited people. They use people at their expense for laughs and ratings. I can't imagine how it must feel for someone to be made the laughing stock of their town when they had no intentions of doing so. Mentally and physically that must take a toll on them. They are made fun of and the show profits. It's not right.

Do you have any friends who still work for Idol or who are being mistreated working in the entertainment industry today?

A majority of people are mistreated in Hollywood. Overworked and underpaid, not given proper meal or rest periods. It's an epidemic in Hollywood. It will continue until you put your foot down and stand up for yourself. Everyone in Hollywood needs to know what their rights are as an employee.

If you were to win in court and Fremantle was accused of wage theft, do you think this would change anything in the entertainment industry?

From what I have been told by numerous individuals in Hollywood, things are already changing just by us speaking out. Companies are changing their polices when it comes to pay and meal periods and people are now being paid for overtime and told that they need to take a break. So things are already changing and that is what needs to happen. These companies know they are breaking the law and now that people are standing up for themselves and speaking out about it, they are afraid of having their names drug through the mud so they are changing the way that they work in order to avoid any negative actions in the future.

That's a good point. I'm sure other workers in the entertainment industry are scared, and in the end, it has ramifications. But what if someone were to say to you, "I don't care. I don't work in the entertainment industry, so why does this matter?"

If we, the employees, are not paid proper overtime, then taxes are never taken out of the those wages, which means that WE ALL suffer because the state and government does get the tax income, due to these production companies not following state labor laws and paying employees correctly. It's not just me that suffers, it's also you. Imagine, seriously try to imagine, if production companies paid their employees correctly. All of that tax money could go to repairing roads, education, proper health care for our returning troops, etc.. Really the possibilities are endless. If this doesn't piss you off I don't know what does.

And now, the most important question- We know the contestants on Idol tend to audition with the same songs every year. What song did you get completely sick of while working on American Idol that now gives you army style flashbacks that make you cringe in the corner?

I blocked it all out and stayed as far away from the singing as possible.

• Add new comment