Clay Aiken has a history of getting into trouble through his blog. So it makes sense that after calling some local school board candidates “selfish idiots” in North Carolina’s Wake County, he drew some unwanted attention. Namely, from the county’s Board of Elections, which received a complaint from one of those candidates who saw Aiken voted — and not via AT&T text message — in Wake County (listing his mother’s house in Raleigh as his home address), even though his own house is in Chatham County, which he once showed off to a television reporter. Scandal!
But alas, this one is blowing over: Aiken has removed his name from Wake County’s voter registration rolls, and the investigation into criminal wrong doing has been dropped. But that’s a good kind of “drop,” unlike the bad kind, which record labels do.
Back on the blog yesterday, Aiken maintained he did nothing wrong. By voting in Wake County, he means, and not with his post-Idol career.
Scottie
WTF? Boring news day…..
BradSA
For the record, Clay wasn’t dropped. He completed his 5 year 5 CD contract and chose to move on to a new label. He’s signed with Universal now and is in studio recording his 6th album.
BradSA
Prepare for the onslaught of Glamberts coming along to bash the bejesus out of that nasty old Clay for not liking Adam’s Ring Of Fire.
5-4-3-2-1…
Janie
WOW……..you sure don’t like Clay do ya…..could you be more sarcastic.
I guess to some, starring on Broadway, having 7 popular tours, selling millions of albums might not be successful. But, I would suggest that most people would be glad to have that success.
It is too bad that Mr Pope, from the republican party wanted some revenge and used Clay for his agenda.
Cam
Ugh, EVERY time something about Clay Aiken is mentioned we have his fans coming on here and bitching, or rewriting history. My favorite is number two. “He chose to move onto a new label.” LOL! Yeah, thats like saying that 10% of the U.S. population CHOSE to be unemployed.
BradSA
Cam, that is the official statement made by his management. You’re welcome to call them liars but unless Sony makes a statement to the contrary, Clay wasn’t dropped. Sorry to disappoint.
LMAO about you complaining that Clay’s fans come on here. Hello! Clay is an out gay man. Clay is one of those gay celebrities we should be supporting. Adam isn’t the only good gay in Gay-ville. Capiche?
Cam
No. 6 · BradSA said…
Cam, that is the official statement made by his management. You’re welcome to call them liars but unless Sony makes a statement to the contrary, Clay wasn’t dropped. Sorry to disappoint.
LMAO about you complaining that Clay’s fans come on here. Hello! Clay is an out gay man. Clay is one of those gay celebrities we should be supporting. Adam isn’t the only good gay in Gay-ville. Capiche?
_________________________
Look, if you and the other fans want to rewrite history thats fine…..however This is what Billboard Magazine had to say…..
Idol Worship: Clay Aiken Dropped?
Leave it to a homepage overhaul to alert the gossip world that Clay Aiken has been dropped. But that’s apparently exactly what happened when RCA refreshed its roster on the label’s official web site and the American Idol season two runner-up was nowhere to be found. A source tells Billboard Aiken was indeed dropped, but it happened a couple of months ago. An RCA representative was not immediately available for comment.
Aiken now joins a slew of second place finishers — Katharine McPhee, Diana DeGarmo, Justin Guarini, Blake Lewis and Bo Bice, among them — let go from their major label deals post-Idol. (McPhee, however, recently signed with Universal’s Verve label.) Last season’s David Archuleta, who’s on Sony’s Jive Records, remains in good standing, with his debut already certified gold, but then again, Aiken’s went double platinum. Of course, 2003 was a different time and not even Idol is recession-proof.
Will Aiken land elsewhere? We’ll keep you updated on what we hear.
….
And this is what About.com had to say….
Taylor Hicks, Blake Lewis, Katharine McPhee and Bo Bice are all former American Idol contestants who have been dropped from their first post-Idol major label recording contracts. Now Clay Aiken is joining their ranks as he leaves RCA. It’s not really a big surprise. Aiken’s first solo album Measure Of a Man sold over 2.7 million copies in the US. His most recent studio effort On My Way Here has sold a mere 159,000 in the US.
________________________
As for us supporting him…why? He was closeted the entire time he was in the spotlight, only coming out of the closet after his career had tanked and PEOPLE Magazine told him that they wouldn’t pay him for a story on his kid unless he came out of the closet in addition. So meh, I hope the guy’s happy, but he certainly wasn’t out of the closet when it could have done anybody any good.
BradSA
Cam, you seem to be predisposed to repeating garbage from gossip sites. People Magazine is a reliable source who are willing to name their sources and go on record.
People Exclusive
Clay Aiken Leaves Record Label
By David Caplan
Friday February 20, 2009 06:30 PM EST
The rumors started when his likeness was removed from his record’s Web site and now Clay Aiken is setting the record straight: the former American Idol has parted ways with RCA Records, Aiken’s rep has confirmed exclusively to PEOPLE.
“We were unable to come to terms in a recent contract negotiation, and decided that it was best to move on,” the rep, Cindi Berger, said Friday.
The buzz about Aiken’s exit was fueled earlier this week when his picture disappeared online and Billboard, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Aiken, 30, had been dropped by the label.
BradSA
@Cam, Where did you get this unfounded gossip from?
“PEOPLE Magazine told him that they wouldn’t pay him for a story on his kid unless he came out of the closet in addition.”
You need to stop making up stories.
Cam
Bradsa, if you check the PEOPLE site, they said that they are just reporting what Clay Aiken’s “People” told them. As for what Gossip site I’m getting this from…I would say that Billboard Magazine is a fairly reliable barometer of the music industry, you know, seeing as how they call it the music industry Bible. But you see, this is why it’s hard to take Aiken’s fans seriously. Whether he was dropped or not is fairly irrelevent, but you are litterally twisting in knotts here trying to rewrite history in a way that makes Clay Aiken look better. I mean come on, his last CD sold under 160,000 copies total, of COURSE he was dropped. Susan Boyle sold more than 5 times that in one week. Big deal, he had a good run of it. If he comes out with a good CD he might sell well again. But to claim that a record comepany was not going to drop somebody who wasn’t selling is just silly.
BradSA
@Cam
Billboard.com has a gossip section with articles submitted by gossip writers. When an article uses “un-named sources” you can toss it into the big round file as far as credible news goes. I understand that you are not a fan of Clay Aiken but I don’t understand why you would impose a double standard. I’ve read your defense of Adam and you’ve taken offense at tabloidy gossip about him, yet you are perfectly fine with not only believing everything negative the tabloids throw at Clay but you repeat it as the gospel truth.
This makes you a hypocrite.
BradSA
“But to claim that a record comepany was not going to drop somebody who wasn’t selling is just silly.”
What part of contract negotiations didn’t you understand? There would be no negotiations if RCA were not interested in re-signing him. Logic, my dear. Use it!
AlwaysGay
Ruben Studdard is still with the same record label from American Idol and he’s never sold a record. Clay Aiken has far surpassed him. Clay is among the best-selling American Idol contestants. Anyway, I am looking forward to his new album. I think it will be great.
BradSA
@AlwaysGay
Ruben has sold over 2 million CDs over the years. He’s a good guy. Ruben is the original “guy who won but was overshadowed by the runner up”
Cam
No. 12 · BradSA said…
What part of contract negotiations didn’t you understand? There would be no negotiations if RCA were not interested in re-signing him. Logic, my dear. Use it!
__________________________
Oh please, RCA dropped him, he was pulled from their website, his folks wouldn’t even respond to questions, and then much later come out and say that contract negotiations didn’t go well. Yeah right, they wouldn’t negotiate with him, he wasn’t selling. What you are doing is trying to take statements from his publicist and act like they are the truth. If he was REALLY telling the truth and if RCA REALLY wanted to keep him he would have publiclly been talking with other labels, but he wasn’t, nobody was reaching out to him and he was dumped, just like McFee, Studdard, Hicks, Bice, DiGarmo, Fantasia, and all the others. To try to pretend otherwise is delusional.
_________
As for AlwaysGay who said “No. 13 · AlwaysGay
Ruben Studdard is still with the same record label from American Idol and he’s never sold a record.”
_____________
You might want to check your facts, Studdard was dropped from his record label back in 2007.
BradSA
@Cam
You’re like a dog with a bone. Stick to your unfounded story with all you’ve got because the truth upsets you. Clay was talking to other labels and he chose to sign with Universal. He went from being signed with the lowly American Idol label (19 Recordings) to the largest record label in the world. Chew on that big boy!
katharine
The voting incident was blown out of proportion by some with an agenda. Clay Aiken has the to speak out about causes that he has a passion for, such as equal rights for all including children, those with disabilities, those who are unable to afford what many take for granted. He was expressing a fear that the new policies will probably result in resegregation, exclusion of those with disabilities, and others who are not always accepted in southern, white, middle & upper class society. Clay has preached inclusion since he was a college student. (pre idol)
He continues to use his voice and it seems to make a story to even the haters. Those who have such hatred for this man, can always skip the Clay Aiken story.
Sam
FYI, Clay is the #2 selling AI contestant so far, Carrie Underwood is #1. I’m sure that will change, but he certainly didn’t do too bad for himself.
BradSA
@ Sam
Clay has done very well with over 6 million sold but he isn’t #2, Kelly Clarkson is.
Pat
Actually, I think Clay is at #4 with Carrie, Kelly, and Daughtry and 1,2,3 in front of him.
#4 and over 6 million CD’s sold is really pretty phenomenal when you consider that he’s had virtually no radio play for the past five years and no overseas promotion at all.
togo
I read this statement by Cam and thought, what kind of moron writes something as stupid as this?
So meh, I hope the guy’s happy, but he certainly wasn’t out of the closet when it could have done anybody any good.
Just who was supposed to get any good out of any gay person coming out, except the gay person? What the hell is anyone’s coming out, a freaking PSA? Every freaking one of us has the right to come out when we are ready, not when some asshole blogger tells us to, not when the media tell us to, and not when some stranger, who knows crap all about us, tells us to.
spindoc
Oh God, here comes all the psycho Clay Aiken fans to tout how wonderful he is, how much he’s sold etc… Do you guys troll the internet just looking for any mention of him so you can come over and post about all his supposedly amazing accomplishments? Yeah, he sold some CD’s….like 8 years ago, and guess what, Lindsay Lohan made some good movies, years ago, Tara Reid used to be famous etc… Time for you all to get a new mesiah.
BradSA
I like my current messiah just fine thank you, and I’ve been here for many years, FYI. Does Lindsay have a new movie in the works? Does Tara Reid? No.
Clay does have a new CD in progress so your dumb analogy FAILS!
Pat
@spindoc
This article is about Clay Aiken, so I would assume his fans would be here.
And, Togo, good for you. I totally agree with everything you said.
MJane
It makes sense that fans of Clay Aiken would read an article about him. WHy is that surprising?? WHat is surprising is that there are people who are not fans here. It would never occur to me to click on an article about someone I didn’t like.
It is OK not to like Clay Aiken..That is your choice. It is not OK to print falsehoods and try to pretend it is true.
Spindoc……Since there are 24 comments here and 7 are from non-Clay fans (many from the same person) I don’t see lots of psycho fans here. The only ones posting OTT are the haters.
Sad, really sad!!
Helga von ornstein
Why do I have no fear that this is not going to interfere with the sun rising tomorrow morning? Wow! Any other world stopping news to report?
christy
What are Adam Lambert fans doing here? Searching for Clay Aiken news… hmmm? Spreading their hate and bitterness as usual. He finished his successful run on Broadway at the beginning of this year, not 8 years ago as someone said with no reason. We are not the only ones who talk about Clay’s accomplishments.
http://www.tvguide.com/PhotoGallery/Favorite-Reality-Singers-1012719/3.aspx
He made a surprise appearance last month and he impressed the audience in a GOOD way. You can hear the cheers and applause of the public all through his performance. He was great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTugnsf3Cnk
We have many reasons to be proud of him. This article is about Clay, so we are here!
Keith Kimmel
So cute. He should strip for us and do a morning goods shoot exclusively for Queerty!
Sandi
@28 – Keith, a word of advice. Don’t hold your breath waiting. Clay is too middle America to be doing that.
Cam
No. 27 · christy
What are Adam Lambert fans doing here? Searching for Clay Aiken news… hmmm? Spreading their hate and bitterness as usual. He finished his successful run on Broadway at the beginning of this year, not 8 years ago as someone said with no reason. We are not the only ones who talk about Clay’s accomplishments.
_________________
And there it is, the “If anybody isn’t a fan of Clay they HATE”. Passing him or yourselves off as victims of evil people is so much easier than just realizing that to most people he is irrelevent.
talaylee
douchebag squint, check.
Alexa
Fuck it. I was staying out of this, but you ALL, including Queerty (what a surprise), are missing the point. Clay was complaining about an ultra conservative racist school board intent on re-segregating the local schools. And he’s not the only one, many people have spoken out about it, and the new board are quite rightly taking a lot of heat. The leader of the new board was trying to deflect criticism by putting the emphasis on Clay, playing hardball and trying to squash anyone with an opposing view. Typical right wing tactics, similar to those seen all year in the fight for decent healthcare and marriage equality. By completely ignoring the facts in their usual effort to make fun of Clay, Queerty has successfully played into the right wing’s hands again. And everyone here, fans and non-fans alike, are going right along with it. We really are our own worst enemies.
MJane
Cam…..why are you here?? The only reason…….you love to see people rise to your bait.
Truly, no one cares what you think. You say odd things that most are laughing at.
Clay fans are not stupid. They don’t think that people are evil if
they don’t like Clay. They just know that there are a few really odd people out there who say whatever they want just to play the game. The only hateful things being said here are from you…..so back off, go away, or shut up!!
The article is about Clay Aiken. Unless you know something as fact and not your made up tales, you are not worth the time.
MJane
And Cam……if he is irrelevant, why are you here?
blech
In parts, I don’t like Clay Aiken because of the way he looks, sounds, his name, his southern accent…but if you add all those unpleasant elements up it equals just the kind of media freak I really love to read up on !!
Cam
No. 33 · MJane said…
Cam…..why are you here?? The only reason…….you love to see people rise to your bait.
Truly, no one cares what you think. You say odd things that most are laughing at.
__________________________
Sweetie, I’m here because this is a gay blog and I’m gay, you apparently are here because you troll the internet waiting for a mention of Clay Aiken and because you have an obsession with protection of your idol you will then go on and make sure to post positive things about him. This is why you come off as bizarre and weird. I like Lady Gaga’s Music sure, or Michael Buble, however if somebody posted something about them saying they didn’t like them or that they were selling as much etc… I wouldn’t care, it has no bearing on my liking of their music. You however have completely invested yourself in this odd cult of personality where you actually feel that you are somehow riding to the defense and are a part of the life of Clay Aiken, just the fact that you bothered to come on to a gay blog with no other intention but to post about him is just sad.
christy
It is so funny “seeing” all those Glamberts spitting their venom wherever Clay is mentioned. Clay does not have anything to do with Adam Lambert being a complete failure. Adam is digging his own grave with a great help from his fans. Haters are not going to make Clay’s success go away. He is an established artist, he’s been around loooong before Glambert. Glamberts have been acting like this since the beginning, even before Clay made that comment about Adam. They claimed he would beat Susan big time, would beat every record set by Clay, that was their major goal, and blah blah blah. Now they can’t stand to see what is happening to their famous “international superstar rock god from planet fierce”. They blame Clay fans of anything bad happening to their idol. I guess they also blame them for Susan Boyle’s and Andrea Bocelli’s extraordinary sales.
Clay was on Idol more than six years ago and he still has a very strong fan base. Adam was on Idol a few months ago and he has lost most of his fans from Idol. The fans left are not enough to make him look good on the charts even when they buy multiple copies of his CD. And when I say multiple I don’t mean 2 copies, I mean dozens of them, as they have let everyone know about it.
BradSA
32, Alexa said;
Fuck it. I was staying out of this, but you ALL, including Queerty (what a surprise), are missing the point. Clay was complaining about an ultra conservative racist school board intent on re-segregating the local schools. And he’s not the only one, many people have spoken out about it, and the new board are quite rightly taking a lot of heat. The leader of the new board was trying to deflect criticism by putting the emphasis on Clay, playing hardball and trying to squash anyone with an opposing view. Typical right wing tactics, similar to those seen all year in the fight for decent healthcare and marriage equality. By completely ignoring the facts in their usual effort to make fun of Clay, Queerty has successfully played into the right wing’s hands again.
__________________________________________________________________
That’s the heart of it. All the rest is just noise.
MJane
Wow…..Cam………..You know nothing about me, but, blowhard that you are, you write drivel.
I am a fan of good music….my son is gay……and I do not belong in any cult nor do I troll the internet…
I am also a fan of honesty and manners. I think it is a shame that anyone comes on any site and spews hatred. If you are a gay man as you say, you know that hatred against people is hurtful and no one wins when it happens.
Of course you should read here if you choose. However, to waste so much time and passion on someone you don’t like doesn’t make sense. Again, you say the things you do to get a rise out of people.
I would say the same thing about anyone you talked about in your hurtful way……Yeah….I think Clay sings well, but I also enjoy many musicians….obsessive, nah…..not near as much as you seem to be.
ALSO…….calling me sweetie is the worst put-down you can say…and you know it. It is demeaning and rude.
cortelyou
@Mjane
“Blowhard that you are” ! a ha lol …. I almost spit out my egg nog reading that.
romeo
Clay Aiken is a real person? ! ?
Cam
No. 39 · MJane said….
Wow…..Cam………..You know nothing about me, but, blowhard that you are, you write drivel.
I am a fan of good music….my son is gay……and I do not belong in any cult nor do I troll the internet…
I am also a fan of honesty and manners. I think it is a shame that anyone comes on any site and spews hatred. If you are a gay man as you say, you know that hatred against people is hurtful and no one wins when it happens.
Of course you should read here if you choose. However, to waste so much time and passion on someone you don’t like doesn’t make sense. Again, you say the things you do to get a rise out of people.
I would say the same thing about anyone you talked about in your hurtful way……Yeah….I think Clay sings well, but I also enjoy many musicians….obsessive, nah…..not near as much as you seem to be.
ALSO…….calling me sweetie is the worst put-down you can say…and you know it. It is demeaning and rude.
___________________________________________________
Once again you try to play the victim card. Calling what people are saying on here hatred. Thank you for proving my point. You take ANY Dissagreement with your opnion that Clay Aiken is the Messaiah to be hatred. You also say that you are a fan of honesty. Really? Funny that same reason is why so many in the gay community are not huge fans of Clay Aiken’s. He stayed in the closet, did not say anything positive about the gay community, then finally, when his career was tanking comes out and all his fans come screaming onto the gay blogs DEMANDING that we support him since nobody else wanted to anymore. Your inability to rationally look at somebody who doesn’t share your taste in music, and see anything other than an evil monster sprewing hatred should really be a wake-up call. Again, you kept calling me names, kept saying that I was spewing hatred and being hurtful, when all I did was point out that you had come to a gay blog and were freaking out because we weren’t all agreeing that Clay Aiken was wonderful. You have invested too much of yourself in your fandom of somebody who doesn’t know you exist, and again, frankly it’s just sad…….sweetie.
Cam
No. 37 · christy said…
It is so funny “seeing” all those Glamberts spitting their venom wherever Clay is mentioned.
_______________________________
Again, the obsession and victimology rears it’s ugly head. Unable to accept that people may just not be fans of Clay Aiken, Clay’s fans will of course chalk it up to a war by the evil fans of (Insert other singers name here). Seriously people get help.
MJane
Cam…..you are one of the funniest people I know. Again, you are doing exactly what I said you do. You want a rise out of people and so that’s what you do.
This will be my last post to you. The discussion is not worth my time.
I would like to discuss the “coming-out” of Clay Aiken.
I do believe that you said you were gay. How lucky for you that it was an easy thing for you to come out. You must have had supportive family and friends. It would be nice if that was the way for all, however that is not real life at this time.
I know that statistics tell us that there are more LGBT people who have some difficulty in coming out to their family, their bosses, their church. I would imagine that it was the same for Clay Aiken.
He is a young man from a VERY conservative family in the south. His family was active in the Southern Baptist church and his step-father , a bully who ruled the home by cruel words and actions. If you are taught at an early age that being gay is a sin, it must be very difficult to admit what is going on. That is why the suicide rate is so high. But, of course, I don’t need to tell you all of this. You know this.
According to Clay, he never told anyone he was gay until he was on AI when he told one friend. He told his mother 2 years later. As outsiders, we might say, of course, it was obvious he was gay, but that is not our call. Each person has the right to come out in the way they want. AND, that includes Clay Aiken.
Again, it is just fine that you don’t like him. If you don’t think he is talented or you don’t like his personality, no problem. Music is subjective and that is why there are so many types of entertainers.
However, as a gay man, you must already know that being hateful never helps.
Cam………you need to read my posts and your posts and see who is freaking out. I came to an article on Clay Aiken because I like his music. You came to the article to say nasty things.
And hatred is so in your comments that it is sad. And to quote you “you have invested too much of yourself in your “Hatred” of somebody who doesn’t know you exist, and frankly, it’s just sad……..sweetie.”
Well, sweetheart!! Please…..take a look at your hateful ways and stop trying to feel good about yourself by being hateful to people you don’t know.
TILLY
@mjane
you go girl!
Cam
Once again, the sad victimology of the Clay Aiken fans comes out to play. Anybody that doesn’t agree with them is evil, or full of hate etc… but what you don’t realize is how obsessive you are. Once again, any rational sane person in the world, who likes some performer or singer, say, Lady Ga Ga. Buys her CD, then a friend says, “I don’t like her” and what does the lady Ga Ga fan do? Pretty much nothing, because it isn’t a big part of their day, their life, or their self identity. But you on the other hand have totally invested yourself in Clay Aiken. You see defending him and playing the part of the his sheild against the world as defending a family member. In reality, you don’t know him, he doesn’t know you and all you are is an oddly obsessed fan that has trolled the internet to find any mention of him so you can come on here to speak about him. This is a gay blog, and yet you pop on just to talk about Clay Aiken, please don’t try to pretend that you weren’t trolling the internet, because there was no other way for you folks to find this article. It’s sad. He fooled you for years, but he didn’t fool the gay community, just deal with it. Find another cause to invest your time and effort in.
RALLY
5 points for MJane
0 points for Cam
Cam
No. 47 · RALLY said…
5 points for MJane
0 points for Cam
____________________________
See, your juvinille sad behavior is why you are made fun of. you are grown women acting like 12 year olds with sad little Jr. High Crushes. I can’t even imagine how empty your lives are outside of your odd lust for Clay Aiken.