One of the former contestants of "American Idol" last 2014 had sued the program after suffering major ear damage. It happened when a sound's representative took off the earpiece from the contestant due to discomfort from the ear.
Michael Simeon Smith, the contestant that sued the program said that the incident happened on Dec. 12, 2014 when he was about to do his performance in "American Idol." He was fitted for an earpiece in the right ear during that time, however, he eventually felt discomfort and he asked to remove it. But that was not the shocking part, the 23-year-old singer begged the sound's representative to remove the earpiece.
The sound's representative pulled out the earpiece from his ear with full force, and there, a piece of his eardrum was also removed. Michael Simeon felt an intense pain after that. Instead of bringing him to the hospital, the producers of American Idol was only asked him to wait in a room for five hours as the blood came out in his ears. Michael Simeon was able to undergo Tympanoplasty, a procedure that repaired the damage in his eardrum.
Michael Simeon finished in the top 24 of "American Idol" Season 14. It was his second attempt to become the winner of the show at that time. Since then, the young hopeful's music career was damaged. After the incident, he wasn't able to perform on the same level because of his ear injury. He decided to take action though it has been two years since the accident happened.
However, the trauma and damage are still there, keep on affecting her performance in stage. Michael Simeon is currently active on michaelsimeonmusic.com where he makes his own music.
Moreover, Michael Simeon has not specified on what damages he needs to file a lawsuit against the "American Idol" show. TheWrap tried to get the reaction of former "American Idol" producer Fremantle but there was no recent news regarding the comment.