On Monday, there were some rumors that American Idol was not going to have Laine Hardy appear on the show after his arrest last Friday.
The show did not include him in a promotional photo advertising the singers for last night’s performance, and some took it to mean they were avoiding the controversy.
That might be accurate, but he did show up and performed on the show with Laci Kaye Booth just three days after his arrest.
Laine Hardy appears on American Idol
Three days after police in Louisiana arrested Laine Hardy and booked him with allegedly bugging his ex-girlfriend’s dorm room, he showed up and performed at The Great Idol Reunion.
There is a reason for that.
This was not a live episode. American Idol taped The Great Idol Reunion earlier in April. This meant it was already taped and edited before Laine’s arrest.
As a result, American Idol went ahead and showed the performance that was taped.
Laine and Laci sang the Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty song Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around for their performance.
After it was over, the judges praised them both. Katy asked if Laine was in A Star is Born, while Lionel said they “both sounded amazing.”
The two were part of several alumni that showed up to perform duets on the show. Also returning was William Hung to sing She Bang, as well as former judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
Laine Hardy not promoted despite appearance
While American Idol kept the performance on the show, the network hedged its bets when it came to Laine Hardy.
As mentioned, Laine was not shown in the promotional advertising of the special, while all the other duet performers were listed. Laci was also omitted from the promotional materials.
Furthermore, American Idol did not add the performance to its YouTube page after the show ended.
The page includes performances from the other duos that performed on the show, the special William Hung appearance, and even a goofy moment where Ryan Seacrest received hair frosting tips from Justin Guarini.
However, the Laine Hardy and Laci Kaye Booth performance is not on the American Idol page for anyone to see.
Laine was accused of planting a listening device in his ex-girlfriend’s dorm room. The charges against Laine are “interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communication.”
American Idol airs on Sunday and Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.