Ryan Seacrest Bashed for Rude Behavior Toward ‘American Idol’ Contestants

Ryan Seacrest is being bashed online for alleged rude behavior toward American Idol contestants. OK Magazine reports that Seacrest dropped some backhanded comments during the April 24 episode. In one example they cited the host saying to a contestant, “You sang ‘Lose You to Love Me.’ We might lose you tonight,” noting the singer’s performance of the hit song by Selena Gomez.

In response to Sescrest’s quip, OK pointed out that some Reddit users were very upset. “‘We might lose you tonight’ was so nasty omg,” one person reportedly commented, adding that they felt the musical competition host was “being such a d— tonight.” Another frustrated American Idol fan took Seacrest to task over the manner in which he revealed to one contestant that they would not be moving on. “F— how Ryan Seacrest told Oliva Soli that she wasn’t in the top 12. He made her believe she was in, we were ALL confused,” the fan tweeted. “THIS is why you need to just say ‘You’re in or you’re not in’ instead of this b— a— trickery, OK?.”

Seacrest is not the only American Idol personality to wind up in a controversy surrounding the treatment of contestants. Earlier in the season, judge Katy Perry wound up in a controversy over some comments she made to a contestant. During the audition rounds of the long-running musical competition series, Sara Beth Liebe auditioned for judges Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, singing Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good.” 

A few days after the audition aired, Liebe took to social media to respond to Perry’s reaction to the fact that Liebe, 25, has three kids. When she revealed to the judges during her audition that she was a mom of three, Perry, 38, stood up and feigned shock, fanning herself and pretending to collapse on the judging table. “If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out,” Liebe said.

“Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much,” Perry jokingly responded.

In a TikTok video, Liebe said she was hurt by Perry’s comments. “There was a joke that was made that’s gotten a lot of attention, and I’ve gotten a lot of people reaching out to me asking how I’m feeling,” Liebe said. “Katy Perry made a joke that wasn’t super kind.” Liebe later chose to leave the competition.