Updated: May 13 2021, 11:24 ET
AMERICAN Idol s Caleb Kennedy s mother has spoken out in his defence after
a video surfaced showing him next to a friend wearing a KKK-style hood.
The 16-year-old s mom Anita Guy has claimed that her son and his friend were imitating characters from slasher flick The Strangers: Prey at Night and not the KKK in the three-second clip.
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Caleb Kennedy s mom has broken her silence and insisted the teen doesn t have a racist bone in his body Credit: Instagram
The South Carolina mother also insisted that the country singer doesn t have a racist bone in his body and claimed that he was only 12 in the now-viral video.
American Idol finalist Caleb Kennedy out after KKK-style hood video surfaces
Caleb Kennedy had been a contestant on this season s American Idol. (CNN)Caleb Kennedy is out of the Top 5 on American Idol and has apologized for a video that shows him with someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan-style hood.
CNN has reached out to ABC, the network on which American Idol airs, for comment.
Kennedy, 16, confirmed his exit from the reality singing competition in a statement posted on his verified Instagram account Wednesday. Hey y all, this is gonna be a bit of a surprise, but I am no longer gonna be on American Idol, the statement read. There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it 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.
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Each day, The Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail publish a live-updates-style story with the latest COVID-19 news relevant to our communities in the Upstate. This is our COVID-19 news roundup for May 9, 2021.
DHEC announces 378 new confirmed cases for Sunday
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 378 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 8 new deaths statewide on Sunday. The agency also reported 203 probable new cases.
Of the 14,965 COVID-19 test results reported by DHEC on Sunday, 5.7% were positive.
Greenville County had 95 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. The most populated of the state s 46 counties, Greenville accounts for 7.7% of the state s population according to Census Bureau estimates, and it accounted for 25% of the confirmed cases reported Sunday.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) After 14 years in the position, South Carolina's Spartanburg County Elections Director Henry Laye said it is time for new leadership. Laye recently announced he was leaving, saying his retirement plans include refining his golf game as well as doing some painting and traveling with family. “I plan to learn to sleep past 5:30 a.m.,” Laye added. Laye, who succeeded former director Barbara Blanchard in 2007, notes that he's.