|
Jailbait Singers Come Back to Bite Idol
10/12/2007 7:32 AM, E! Online
Joal Ryan
Sanjaya's giving American Idol headaches again. And this time, his tender age, not his off-key singing, is the issue.
The Idol powers that be at 19 Entertainment have agreed pay $5,000 to the state of New York for child-labor violations stemming from this past summer's American Idols Live! Tour.
The tour was dinged for employing "two minors" without the proper work permits, the New York State Labor Commission announced Friday. Commission spokesman Leo Rosales confirmed the jailbait to be reigning Idol champ Jordin Sparks and the famously infamous Sanjaya Malakar, both of whom were under 18 when tour hit the Empire State for four dates in August and September.
A spokeswoman for 19 Entertainment did not immediately return a call and email seeking comment Friday.
The labor commission's pursuit of 19 Touring, the touring-company arm of 19 Entertainment, was, in a way, the result of Idol's own success. According to Rosales, a labor commission employee and a fan of the top-rated Fox show, heard the Idol tour was coming to New York and got curious.
Being well versed in Idol, the employee knew Sparks and Malakar were underage, and being well versed in child-labor law, the employee prompted a look-see into whether the tour had pulled the proper paperwork.
Rosales said that 19 Touring, not Sparks and Malakar, were held responsible for the labor violations.
Of the tour's 10 featured performers, all culled from Idol's sixth season, Sparks and Malakar were the only singers under 21, much less 18. Sparks doesn't come of legal age until December; Malakar turned 18 on Sept. 10, eight days after the final New York date.
The Idols Live! Tour, which launched in July, wrapped Sept. 22 in New Hampshire.
It was not known if the tour was under investigation for violating child-labor law in any state other than New York.
Idol, meanwhile, is steamrolling along. Auditions for the show's new season were held in July and August. The good, the bad and the very bad from those sessions will be featured when Idol returns to Fox in January.
|
