We first reported that Ricky Braddy's fansite The Braddy Bunch was sent a cease and desist letter by Fremantle. The folks behind Idol said the site gave Ricky "an unfair advantage", which clearly catapulted him into the top 12 and made him the frontrunner. Oh wait, it didn't? The site was taken down temporarily while the owners dealt with lawyers. Well looks like the Braddies won. The site's back up and the Idol folks seem to be backing off in the corner. Good for the Braddy Bunch! Will Idol learn anything from this? Of course not.
So we'll send a quick warning to Felicia Barton... watch out for cease and desist letters in your e-mail next week. People are searching for you all over the internet since you replaced Joplanta, they're realizing you sing well, and Idol may not want you in their planned top 12.
So you know how Idol is asking Ricky Braddy's fansite, the Braddy Bunch, to disappear because it gives him an unfair advantage? Well apparently, hosting a charity event under your name does not give you the same unfair publicity. TopIdol found that Danny Gokey's name appears on a flyer for a dance club charity event in Milwaukee for his Sophia's Heart Foundation. While we're not sure if Danny will be there (knowing Idol's hypocrisy this year, they'll probably fly him out there and film it for footage for the top 12), how is it that he's allowed to put his name on events and publicize them while Ricky's fans can't start a website? The rules should apply to everyone or no one. Good for the charity for trying to raise money, but bad for Idol for harrassing some contestants while letting others do whatever they want.
Looks like Idol's up to their old tricks again. We've heard that Ricky Braddy fansite thebraddybunch.com was recently contacted by Fremantle Media. The site received a cease and desist letter stating that it has to be taken down. Fremantle seems to think that the site gives Ricky an unfair advantage, although clearly Ricky was bashed by Simon, received no airtime, and did not move on to the top 12. His fans decided to put together a fun website to get him some publicity and try to show people why they want to vote for him, and Idol isn't having it, probably because their plans don't include Ricky in the top 12 and they're scared of a little competition. A quick Google search brought up no less than 3 Danny Gokey fansites that have not received similar letters. Ridiculous, but typical. We'll see if Ricky gets another shot during the wildcard, or if Idol is just playing by the same old bullying tactics. Sad, grim, pathetic.
Edited To Add: It seems like the Ricky support is now going on at The Missing Square. Good for them! Everyone should head over there and give the guys some support after the crap that's going down.
JoesPlace gave us even more names of the people who made Hollywood today. Check out our previous lists here, here, and here, and you can add these as well. Please let us know if you know anything about these Hollywood contestants and we'll update everyone.