Ju'Not Joyner Was Told By Ken Warwick: "Shut Up, You're Not Going To Ruin My Show"

Posted by againstallodds on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 9:30 AM EDT
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Ju'Noy Joyner opened up in today's AI Now chat about how he was labeled a "troublemaker" by Ken Warwick, producer of American Idol, because he asked "basic legal questions" about the Idol contract. Ju'Not was told by Ken, "Shut up, you're not going to ruin my show." Of course, the tween morons in the chat with names like MATTSTHIGHS were saying "OMG IDOL IS RIGGED??? I DON'T GET IT!!!!" so it didn't leave much time for Ju'Not to expand. But here are the highlights:

  • Ju'Not mentioned that the Idols are given one collective lawyer by the Idol staff that is then supposed to negotiate with the Idol lawyer, which clearly is a conflict of interest and results in the Idol contestants being taken advantage of in the end.
  • The semifinalists had a few hours to go over the details of 6 or 7 contracts that they didn't get to keep a copy of. They also were also not allowed to send the contract to an outside attorney during that time. If they didn't sign on the spot, they couldn't be on the show.
  • Ju'Not says that the judges' comments are scripted and that AI is a reality show, not a talent competition.
  • He calls his contract a "slavetract" (heh).
  • Ju'Not also says the show wanted to talk about his personal business and background living in the hood for ratings, which he refused to do.
  • He also says that after the show, Idols are supposed to talk to the PR department to clear any appearances and get permission for them. Ju'Not never got return calls, but then found out that other Idols were allowed to participate in appearances that he was not allowed to.

Check out the transcript here.

EdgarSandwiches
Posted: 7/29/2009 at 9:59 AM Reply with quote
Location: Vista

Ju'Not?

The one that could actually sing right?

thefunnystone
Posted: 7/29/2009 at 10:10 AM Reply with quote
Administrator

Yes, he was easily the best male singer in group 3, but didn't make it into the top 13 due to the judges overly praising Scott and Jorge because they wanted those stories to make it.

StickyKeys
Posted: 7/29/2009 at 10:47 AM Reply with quote
Location: Nebraska

I think the biggest shocker was the lawyer thing. Having been through the audition process (or cattle call), I completely believe that you only have a few hours for the contract and are forced to sign it on the spot. I wonder what the Idol backlash will be? He may really get gangbanged as they burn down his house!

He can come live with me, I'm just over in Greenbelt ;)

Infrequent Poster
Posted: 7/29/2009 at 1:21 PM Reply with quote
Location: PA

Nothing terribly surprising, though it's good to hear it directly. Perhaps the talent drain isn't so much there not being singers who are "good enough" (ha!) but rather most who have real talent aren't dumb enough to put up with this shit.

SC
Posted: 7/29/2009 at 1:45 PM Reply with quote

I've never heard of anybody not being able to keep a copy of a contract they signed - not sure if there's precedent to that.

But that conflict of interest in Idol providing the lawyer isn't technically considered a conflict of interest in the eyes of the law so long as there's full disclosure and contestants agree to sign the contract - it sounds like a catch-22 because it is.

What I think when I hear about Seacrest getting $15mil a year is that, gosh Seacrest better really bring it this season to show he's worth it. Then it becomes clear that nobody's watching the show because of Ryan - he's basically irrelevant to the process, and the true draw is the contestants. And it sucks that contestants have absolutely no voice at the bargaining table.

It's totally on the producers or whoever it is that's in charge of negotiating the contracts to consider the contestants when doling out rewards - and they don't seem to have any sense for how much resentment they're fueling when they expand the divide between the no-talent haves and the talent have-nots. Because then it starts to expand to like every time you hear them plug AT&;T text voting so that they can have their salaries paid, you're also reminded of the fact AT&;T text voting has been set up to give patrons a competitive advantage via power voting. And then you start to feel like the whole thing has just become more about greed than rewarding talent.

And then I want to turn the channel if there's a better alternative to be had. So far there hasn't been anything, but maybe this year there will be.

Panderer
Posted: 7/30/2009 at 5:16 AM Reply with quote
Location: United States

All of these reality shows are pathetic but AI takes the cake because of its ratings, fans and the misleading thought that these are "rags to riches" performers.

Even when voting for the worst....my suggestion would be NEVER text a vote if it costs you even one penny. If they stop making money, they stop exploiting wannabe artists.

MatthewGiraud
Posted: 7/30/2009 at 6:29 AM Reply with quote

People like Junot really need to realize that with something like Idol, you can either hate the game or be part of it. It's not like I'm going to go into a church and start berating everyone and complaining that God doesn't exist. If I don't agree, I should be on my own merry way and shut the **** up.

Yes, Idol is a farce, people have known it since Day 1, and Junot is accomplishing nothing other than obvious sour grapes.

Not to mention, several contestants have remarked on how *horribly* mean he was to Tatiana Del Toro's face. Screw him!

ohjeez
Posted: 7/30/2009 at 9:10 PM Reply with quote

Hey, "Matthew", shut the fuck up you mindless idiot. He told the mindless drones that AI is a scripted tv show. He was threatening so the producers booted him. These are the same fans that still believe that Adam is not a flamer and instead goes to church, drinks milk, and is going steady with a girl. This is not sour grapes, this is a contestant calling out the bullshit that we all knew but is now confirmed. You also thought that Jose Canseco was lieing and major leaguers didn't juice and Obama was really about change.

Yolgnu
Posted: 7/30/2009 at 9:12 PM Reply with quote

He was easily the best male in Group 3, but I have zero sympathy for him. If he had played the game, quit whining and let the producers exploit his back story, his audition would have been aired, he would have been pimped, and he'd be on the tour right now.

BlindingTruth
Posted: 7/31/2009 at 2:16 AM Reply with quote

Consider me blindingly shocked, amazed, and appalled that a reality show is scripted and rigged. Does this mean they DON'T listen to America's votes?????

>:-)

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