Special Olympics Praises American Idol for Equal-Opportunity Bashing
The Special Olympics has put out a statement commending American Idol for not going soft on one of their own. The media gave Idol the Simon Cowell treatment after judges made fun of former Special Olympics athlete Jonathan Jayne during auditions on the show’s premiere.
“Have you borrowed Randy’s trousers?” Cowell cracked when Jayne walked into the room, referring to co-judge Randy Jackson.
But the organization says that people with handicaps should be treated just like everyone else. The statement reads:
"While polite isn’t a word one would normally associate with Cowell and company, a viewing of the episode in question shows that the judges were in fact gracious and very encouraging to Jayne during his rendition of "God Bless America.” At one point, [co-judge Paula] Abdul commented admiringly about Jayne’s spirit and advised him to ‘Always believe in yourself.’” […]
"[P]eople with intellectual disabilities don’t want to be pitied. They want to be judged for who they are and appreciated for what they can achieve. American Idol should be commended for providing Jayne with the same opportunity to succeed as any other contestant.”
Well, the Special Olympics may be forgiving, but we’re not so easily persuaded. Simon should be sentenced to dole out special hugs to every contestant who strides through those cheap double-doors. Watching him recoil at the human touch would be funnier than any of those insults he spews.
(Although, admittedly, the time the contestant blamed her bad performance on needing a glass of water, and he replied, “You could lie in a bathtub with your mouth open and you still couldn’t sing” was pretty d-mn funny.)
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