By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — Jermaine Jones, one of the final 12 contestants who was dubbed “The Gentle Giant” for his vast height and soulful singing, tweeted on Tuesday that he would no longer be on the show.
The tweet quickly disappeared from his official “Idol” Twitter account, but reports from TMZ, the Hollywood Reporter and elsewhere said that Jones was being disqualified for concealing a sometimes-violent criminal past from producers. The reports did not specify what crimes Jones had been accused of.
A Fox spokeswoman said the network would have no comment.
This is not the first time an “Idol” hopeful has been ejected for reasons unrelated to singing. Corey Clark was dumped back in 2003 for not being forthcoming about his rap sheet. And several young performers were let go for appearing in racy photos or stripping in nightclubs.
