Jermaine Jones Booted Off American Idol for Arrest Warrants

During Wednesday’s broadcast of “American Idol,” it was revealed that contestant Jermaine Jones would be kicked off the show—but not due to his singing ability.

In a pre-taped segment, Jones was informed on camera by producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe that he would be dismissed from the show because of outstanding arrest warrants in his home state of New Jersey that he did not reveal to executives of the show. Jones is a 25-year-old vocal instructor from Pine Hill, N.J.

“You were incumbent to tell us the truth about all of this, and it appears that you just haven’t on any level,” Warick said to Jones in the meeting that was aired on Wednesday. In addition to four pending warrants, it has been reported that Jones has two prior arrests. It has been reported that at least some of the past illicit activity involves allegedly using fake names.

Jones had been selected by viewers as one of the top 13 male contestants, leading to his spot in the group of male semifinalists for the 11th season of the show.

“I didn’t want to get judged,” Jones said in the meeting. “I didn’t want to get penalized for anything that happened in the past.”

The news broke Wednesday afternoon, when Lythgoe told TMZ that Jones would be dismissed during that night’s episode. Warwick spoke more specifically about the charges.

“The big problem… was the fact that he had given false names,” Warwick said. “There might be other false names and other… charges that we just don’t know about.

Jones posted “Awww I will no longer b on the show” to his official “American Idol” Twitter page before it was deleted altogether.

Jones isn’t the first contestant to be kicked off of American Idol. At least three have been kicked off in the past, starting with Corey Clark, who was kicked off in 2003 for allegedly assaulting a family member and resisting arrest.