Former American Idol finalist Caleb Kennedy arrested in deadly DUI crash
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Caleb Kennedy, the teenage country singer who made it to the final five on American Idol last year before exiting the show amid a social media controversy, was arrested Tuesday in South Carolina in connection with a car crash that left one person dead.
Kennedy, 17, has been charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway said Kennedy was identified as the driver of a Ford pickup truck that traveled onto a private drive in Spartanburg County and struck a building Tuesday afternoon, killing a person inside.
The crash remains under investigation.
Christopher Willard/abc Caleb Kennedy on 'American Idol'
Kennedy rose to fame on season 19 of American Idol, only to abruptly exit the reality competition series after a video surfaced showing him seated next to an individual wearing a hood that resembled the garb of the Ku Klux Klan.
In an Instagram post confirming his departure from the show, he wrote that the video "displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way. I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that's not an excuse."
Kennedy's mother told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal that the years-old video "had nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan" and was taken after her son had watched a horror movie and was imitating the characters. "Caleb doesn't have a racist bone in his body," she said.
At the time, American Idol judge Lionel Richie said of the controversy, "A lot of times, we think about it, we grow up and we make mistakes and we look at our life behind us many times and we say, 'God, what was I thinking about when I did that?' This was one of those situations where we kind of give him a big hug from the three of us." He added that Kennedy "definitely has a talent. The problem is, this is one of those unfortunate decisions that had to be made and we move on. But this will be remembered in his lifetime and he'll know what it's all about."
A month later, Kennedy addressed his Idol experience in an interview with the Herald-Journal. "There's no way to emotionally prepare for Idol," he said. "Because no one is ready for it, no matter how you prepare. But I don't regret it, and I did love it."
He added that his time on the show changed him. "On Idol, that wasn't me," Kennedy said. "That world is so different. Now that I'm home, I try to be me, but I'm also scared of someone videoing me when I go to Academy or Wal-Mart. You have to worry about things like that now."
With reporting from Ashley Boucher.
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