In all of the articles about booted 24-year-old American Idol finalist Jaered Neale Andrews, which we have reported here, there, and everywhere, there has been no public comment forthcoming from Jaered Andrews himself. However, that may have changed after a recent exclusive post on the RealityTVWorld.com American Idol message boards.
A RealityTVWorld.com poster called "Gskid" has claimed to be Jaered Andrews and has posted a lengthy discussion of the events on the night of November 16, 2003 and their aftermath. Although it has not been possible at this time to verify that Gskid is indeed Jaered Andrews, we have also not uncovered any evidence that would indicate that Gskid is not Jaered Andrews. When we are able to affirmatively confirm or deny that Gskid is Jaered Andrews, we will post an update to this story.
The story that Gskid tells about that night is intriguing and, if confirmed, could recast the events of that night in a different light. According to him, most of the reporting about the events of November 16, 2002 is either inaccurate or misleading. Here is Gskid's version of events:
To begin, Gskid claims that he was at the Blue Ribbon Grille in Farrell, Pennsylvania not to celebrate his selection to the show but because his car broke down at his job, which was just down the road from the bar, and he was waiting for a friend to give him a ride home. Apparently, he was there for some period of time waiting for his friend, because he notes that "all evening long I was forced to put up with [Thomas] Blakely's derogatory, racist, drunken and hostile behavior, [which] seemed to be directed specifically at me."
Gskid claims that, although Blakely used the "n-word" and humiliated him, he didn't tried to ignore Blakely's behavior until Blakely "tried to cop a feel on a young lady who worked at the bar" who was inebriated and unconscious. Gskid says that he then asked the bar owner to intervene, but the owner just told him to relax because Blakely was "only drunk."
Gskid says that, as he and his associates went to leave the bar (which, according to the police report, was at 2 AM), Blakely "pursued" them out of the bar, "screaming profanities and threatening violence." In Gskid's opinion, Blakely was "determined to fight someone," and Gskid "swung one punch to protect myself from imminent danger." Thus, in Gskid's opinion, his actions were totally taken in self-defense.
Gskid also distances himself from Jerrold Allen, the other person arrested in connection with Blakely's death. Gskid says that even though Allen, who was charged with aggravated assault, was the brother of his best friend, he had just met Allen recently, as Allen had just been "released from a mental ward of a hospital in Pennsylvania." According to Gskid, Allen kicked the defenseless Blakely in the head three times, not twice as had been previously reported, and Allen didn't stop kicking until Gskid finally pulled him away.
Gskid claims that the media coverage of this event will cause him to "be labeled a killer when in actuality I am a victim." He says that he has never been in any prior legal trouble and attended Ohio State University for three years, majoring in engineering. However, in his opinion, negative press coverage has damaged his "reputation and future," despite his "goal-oriented, generous and hard-working" character, which "is what those judges saw when they voted me as one of the country's top 32" singers competing for a spot on American Idol.
Finally, Gskid promises that "when America finally does hear me sing, it won't be from a lowly jailhouse choir, it will be out loud and humbly proud for all ears to witness, through my voice, that God can keep you and comfort you even when enemies seek to destroy you."
RealityTVWorld.com will update this story as future events develop.
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