ABC/Christopher Willard Claudia Conway made it through the first round of American Idol.
Leading up to the season premiere of American Idol, Kellyanne and George Conway’s daughter Claudia took the center stage in promotions, and her audition for the show aired during the February 15 episode. Following the audition, the show faced backlash on social media from fans who accused the show of exploiting the Conways for higher viewership.
According to Page Six, the backlash has caused the executives at American Idol to rethink how they were going to position Conway throughout the season.
Critics of the show’s choice to include Conway in such a high capacity believe that the show used the family issues the Conways experience in order to get more people interested in their show.
Claudia is the daughter of Kellyanne Conway, who worked for the Trump campaign and administration, and George Conway, a lawyer and republican strategist who was vocally anti-Trump. The relationships between Claudia and her parents have been speculated about online, especially recently as Claudia has posted videos of her mother allegedly cursing at her.
‘American Idol’ Executives Are Rethinking Their Positioning
After Claudia’s audition appeared on the show, people took to social media and media outlets to criticize the show’s choice to include the teen in the capacity they did. In a piece posted on Variety, the show’s ethics are called into question and the writer says that the show was taped and shown in a way that shows a “special sort of cruelty, or carelessness.”
An insider told Page Six that ABC is “rethinking how they are going to position Claudia and Kellyanne with promotion. They were big on putting Claudia in all of the promos, but now they are thinking of not putting as much focus on that … to not make as big a deal of her being on the show and focus on other contestants.”
One reason for the more careful approach on what to do next may be because of the recent backlash ABC has received when it comes to the Bachelor franchise and racism allegations.
Claudia Conway ‘Worked Really Hard’ for Her Audition
A source close to the Conways opened up about the situation to Page Six, saying that the backlash was really unfair to Claudia in particular.
“Claudia has been exploited by many people,” the source reportedly told the outlet. “But not by American Idol.”
Since American Idol does allow 16-year-old contestants, Claudia’s age isn’t at the center stage for the debate of right and wrong, but she did bring her father with her to the audition because of her age.
“Claudia wanted to do it,” the source added and continued on to say that the backlash is “not fair… She worked really hard for her audition.”
Backlash or no, Claudia made it through to the next round of American Idol where contestants go on to compete in Hollywood. They’re tested emotionally and vocally throughout the process, and the crowd gets whittled down more with each round.
Tune in to American Idol to see how far Claudia makes it in the season.
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