"American Idol" participant Caleb Kennedy, who appeared in Season 19 of the show, has been charged with a felony DUI following a fatal car crash.
The incident took place in South Carolina at around noon on Tuesday, according to E! News.
Kennedy,17, was traveling in his 2011 Ford pickup when he drove into a private drive and "struck" a building, South Carolina Highway Patrol's Mitchell Ridgeway told the outlet. The person inside the building died from injuries sustained from the collision.
The singer was charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death, according to the report, which noted that Kennedy was booked in the Spartanburg County Detention Center on a felony DUI death charge.
Last year Kennedy exited "American Idol" after a social media post resurfaced depicting him sitting next to and filming someone wearing what appears to be a Ku Klux Klan hood when he was 12-years old. In a statement shared to his Instagram at the time, Kennedy apologized for the controversial video, saying that 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," he said. "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."
Speaking to People after Kennedy's exit, judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie shared their thoughts on his departure from the show.
"First and foremost, as judges, we love these kids," Bryan said. "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. It does make for a very, very challenging and upsetting week."
Richie added, "A lot of times, we think about it, 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 give him a big hug from the three of us."
Richie noted that Kennedy "definitely has talent" and it was "unfortunate" that he had to be let go.
"The problem is, this is one of those unfortunate decisions that had to be made and we move on," he said. "But this will be remembered in his lifetime and he'll know what it's all about."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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