American Idol contestant Matthew Farmer has admitted he lied to the judging panel about his alleged prior military injury when auditioning for the show.
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During his audition shown during Wednesday night's Idol broadcast, Farmer -- who brought his young daughter into the room with him -- told Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson he had suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of an IED explosion while serving in Iraq. However, the veteran has come out and apologized for feeding the show and viewers false information.
"It was ALL lies. I in fact HAVE lied since a younger age and had a problem with it. I am coming out and making a statement (even though I was instructed not to) because I DO want to come clean," Farmer wrote on Guardianofvalor.com, a website devoted to exposing false military service claims, according to Fox News.
"I was told to keep quiet and not talk to anyone, and I have decided that what's best for me and my family is to come out and end the insanity. I indeed have many many things to work with and need to get a lot of help doing it. Again I apologize to everyone that I have come across and hurt or lied too."
Farmer apparently felt the need to apologize to his fellow Army Infantrymen as well, as he seems embarrassed and ashamed about his fake sob story.
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"I am EXTRMELEY remorseful and VERY upset that I allowed myself to take from the hard work of the guys that iIwas deployed with among others," he wrote. "To think that I would go on a national TV show and get away with continuing a lie so big, and so deeply imbedded in my life and brain... Is ridiculous."
After watching his audition on television, soldiers who had served overseas with Farmer reportedly didn't want him to get away with his ongoing lie. According to Fox News, they recently wrote to StolenValor.com claiming Farmer had been injured while serving in the military thanks to a prohibited and hazardous combination of acne medication and alcohol -- not from actual battle or explosives.
In fact, Farmer was allegedly sent home from war after experiencing seizures from "unauthorized" prescription drug usage.
"I was a sniper section leader attached to his company and lived in the same room with him until he was medevaced from Ramadi because he got drunk while he was taking Accutane," said Farmer's alleged former roommate. "He was never involved in one single direct fire engagement, was never wounded, and made up this whole lie to try and make his story sound good to American Idol."
According to Fox News, Sergeant David Johnson added that Farmer is "a fraud" and "his actions endangered the rest of his platoon and company and forced the rest of the company to be searched in what is called a 'health and welfare' for illegal substances."
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Farmer "never saw combat, never got blown up, never got a TBI," a soldier reportedly told StolenValor.com.
Added John F. McManus, a team leader of the U.S. Army Infantryman, "[Farmer] used the blood, sweat, and tears or real, hard-working, tough, brave and honorable Infantry soldiers to paint himself as someone he was most certainly not." McManus also reportedly referred to the Idol contestant's story as a "bold-faced lie."
Farmer, who was advanced to the Hollywood Rounds following his successful audition, came clean after initially denying most of the accusations -- including how he had reportedly been "kicked out" of the army -- and insisting the show's editing pieced together clips that took his original story out of context.
"American Idol took certain things I said out of context. Three pictures that were shown were not ones provided by myself but stock photos THEY used. I at NO time gained any monetary values about my story that was used on American Idol and want it to also be known that I am no longer a part of the show," Farmer reportedly wrote on Guardianofvalor.com website at the time, elaborating further on allegations he had lied about the IED explosion.
"I'm FIRM in the fact that I know I had talked about it over 6 hours of interviews that I discussed certain missions and stuff that we did on a day to day basis. Then I mentioned to a producer in an interview that I had an accident while in country and remember 'waking up in Kuwait.' This is where this was all pieced together. I am sure you have watched the clip and can realize that it is chopped up."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski