American Idol contestant Alyssa Raghu has gotten a lot of flack and criticism for apparently stealing her friend Julia Davo's audition. Now, she's speaking out, blasting the show for false editing.
During the episode, Raghu, a past contestant who made it to the final 8, appeared alongside Davo for support. However, Raghu ended up with the Golden Ticket to Hollywood, not Davo. During the episode, she impressed the judges with her vocals after asking to perform for them. Fans saw Raghu as hijacking Davo's chance for stardom.
However, Raghu says it was all the producers' idea. In a TikTok video, she blamed American Idol producers for creating a false narrative that didn't exist.
"As you may have seen, the episode portrays a narrative that pins two female friends against each other, seemingly for the sake of ratings and drama. It's really disappointing, honestly, to see that the show decided to go this route with their edit rather than showcasing how supportive and collaborative our friendship has always been," Raghu said. "This situation perpetuates harmful narrative of pinning women against each other. I believe that had I been a male artist, this situation would have never been edited the same way."
Alyssa Raghu Says Producers Forced 'American Idol' Performance
@alyssaraghu The truth about what REALLY happened on last night’s episode of #Americanidol #alyssaraghu #juliadavo
She also praised her friend saying, ""Julia is an incredible artist and always has been and she's honestly one of the most talent people that I know." According to Raghu, producers realized who she was during the pre-audition process and invited her on the show. Both Raghu and Davo agreed that she would rehearse a song, just in case she would put on the spot. However, Raghu said she had no intention of being a contestant.
"The episode was edited to make it seem like I went into the room with the intention of hijacking Julia's audition and took her golden ticket when there was in fact enough tickets to go around and for her to absolutely have one," Raghu said. "The reality is very far from all of this that happened. The editors rearranged conversations and left out crucial details to create a false narrative of betrayal for the sake of controversy and ratings."
Likewise, Raghu said she offered to throw away the ticket.
"As Julia and I were walking off the stage, I turned to her and said, 'You want me to throw it away? I'll throw it away.' That moment was important because we felt misled in this situation together. She's my best friend. If she asked me to do that right now, I would still throw away the ticket," she said. "Obviously the show cut out the entire conversation and only left a quick clip and they totally diminished what that moment really meant and how much I really care about Julia."
