"American Idol" season 12 contestant Matthew Farmer said he lied about receiving a traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq.

The contestant said he has quit his involvement in the contest now that his fabricated tale has been revealed, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday.

During his audition, Farmer told judges Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban he sustained a life-threatening brain injury from an improvised explosive device while serving in Iraq. To make matters worse, he said the medication he took made him sterile, making the birth of his young daughter a miracle.

“It was ALL lies,” Farmer wrote in a statement to guardianofvalor.com. “I in fact HAVE lied since a younger age and had a problem with it. I am coming out and making a statement (even though I was instructed not to) because I DO want to come clean.”

Farmer initially denied making the claim, saying the show‘s producers heavily edited his audition clips to create the tale, The Hollywood Reporter said.

A fellow soldier who roomed with Farmer said he didn’t receive a brain injury in combat, but from an overdose of acne medication and alcohol.

“I was a sniper section leader attached to his company and lived in the same room with him until he was Medevaced from Ramadi because he got drunk while he was taking Accutane,” the soldier wrote to stolenvalor.com. “He was never involved in one single direct fire engagement, was never wounded, and made up this whole lie to try and make his story sound good to ‘American Idol.’ ” (UPI)



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아이돌 ’새빨간 거짓말’ 들통나

미국 아이돌 오디션 프로그램 "아메리칸 아이돌(American Idol)" 시즌 12 출연자 매튜 파머(Matthew Farmer)는 이라크에서 군 복무 중 뇌를 다쳤다는 발언이 모두 거짓이었다고 밝혔다.

파머는 프로그램 출연이 끝난 지금 이야기가 모두 거짓인 것이 들통났다고 말했다. 이는 할리우드리포터(The Hollywood Reporter)가 금요일 보도했다.

파머는 오디션 중 랜디 잭슨(Randy Jackson)을 비롯한 심판자들에게 이라크에서 폭발장비로부터 큰 사고를 당해 뇌에 손상을 입었다고 말했다. 약물치료때문에 불임이 되었고, 딸을 얻은 것이 기적이라고도 말했다.

"전부 거짓말이었다. 어려서부터 거짓말을 많이 했고 문제가 많았다. 주위에서 말렸지만 깨끗하게 사실을 밝히고 싶었다."고 파머가 전했다.

파머의 동료 군인은 그가 전투에서 뇌를 다친 적이 없으며 뇌 손상은 약물과다복용과 알콜때문일 것이라고 밝힌 바 있다. (코리아헤럴드)