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Ousted 'Idol' Contestant, a Howard Student, Says Fox Knew Her Past

By Jozen Cummings
Black College Wire

Franchelle "Frenchie" Davis, kicked off Fox television's "American Idol 2" for past involvement with an adult Web site, says the producers of the series were told about her past in November, before she made the finals.

Before the Howard University senior was pulled from the show Feb. 11, Davis' voice and personality were seen as the right combination to be the next "American idol."

"I was open with the information from the very beginning,'' Davis told the Howard University newspaper, The Hilltop. "There was no outside pressure for me to tell them, and my involvement with the Web site didn't even show up in the background check they did on all of the contestants."

Producers of "American Idol 2" have said they maintain the right to disqualify a contestant any time.

Davis, 23, said the producers told her to prepare herself in the event that her past was leaked to the news media, but that she was never told it would result in her disqualification. The decision to remove Davis from the show was made after her involvement with the Web site was made public.

"American Idol 2" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe broke the news to Davis at a meeting that took place about the same time Fox was broadcasting the Feb. 11 program.

"I am very disappointed in the show," said Davis, a Los Angeles native. "Any woman who could endure what I have endured, and still hold her head high and fight to make something of herself, is worthy of being called an idol."

The site, whose name Davis did not want to reveal, has been said to contain sexually explicit material and features underage girls. Davis claimed her involvement with the site was solely for money to continue her education.

"I was 18 years old at the time and 3,000 miles away from home," Davis said. "But I simply refused to go back home without a college degree and at the time it seemed like the best way to earn the money I needed to continue my education. Everyone knows why I did it."

Davis also said the site was under different ownership then, and denied allegations that the site contained child pornography.

"I just want people to know the site was not a child pornography site when I worked there," Davis said. "And I have never been involved in any way with the abuse of children, which is what child pornography is."

With Davis' sudden disqualification, people across the country have spoken out in her defense.

Numerous message boards and a Web site, www.savefrenchie.com, are among fans� efforts to bring Davis back. By Feb. 16, more than 35,000 fans had signed the online petition http://www.petitiononline.com/FRENCHIE/petition.html, USA Today reported.

The company that gives the winner of the show a recording contract, 19 Entertainment, has said it will "endeavor to do all in its power to help Frenchie further her music career."

But for people like Kara Sax, a Howard University senior marketing major and Davis' best friend of five years, those words aren't enough.

"They need to reinstate her,'' Sax said. "The only way you can support someone and protect someone is by following through with what you said, and not making exceptions."

Davis' case has also drawn criticism after comparison with that of last year's 'Idol' contestant Nikki McKibbin, who had been a stripper and was not disqualified. Davis said she did not want to comment on why the two cases were treated differently.

"All I know is I believe I could have won and I also believe someone else thought that too, and that's why it happened,'' Davis said.

The controversy surrounding Davis has fueled offers from recording companies, and she says she is still looking over all of them. In the meantime, she said she has two definite goals.

"I'm definitely planning on coming back to Howard in the fall to get my degree,'' she said. "But during my free time now I'm going to be studying for the LSAT which I'll take in June."

As for her fans, they have gone to great lengths to support Davis.

Cornell Williamson, president of the Howard University Student Association, said the student association might protest in some way if it got word that that would be OK with Davis.

"I'm not going to discourage anyone from supporting me in any way," Davis said. "The fans of the show have all the power because they choose who the next 'American idol' is, and they can make me a star anyway. Their anger helps me vent."

Jozen Cummings is a student at Howard University who writes for The Hilltop.