Reader comments
Carmen isn't bitter about 'American Idol'

Carmen is just a sweetheart, how can anyone not see that?
My personally commnet not posted here was that the amount oftime allocated to each singer probably varied from week to week depending on what they sang and what could be changed. and how aggressive the contestant pressed for help. Being so young, I would imagine tha Carmen was not very assertive of her rights.
I was so surprised to hear about Carmen's going away party on Rewind and how many people loved her on the show - contestants and staff. That will probably always be a special memory for her.

Don't let a few crazy Claymates make you think all Clay fans are nuts, many of us who read Carmen's column understood what she was getting at but just didn't feel the need to post a comment about it. I'm not a fan of Carmen's music, either now or on Idol, but she always seemed like a nice girl and I wish her lots of success.

As to TMZ, they always put the worst possible spin on everything, always post the most unflattering photos they can find, and make fun of people when they have done nothing wrong. Everyone knows it, so, Carmen, don't worry about it, nobody cares what they say.

Carmen, I'm sorry. As a blogger myself, I know attacks on what you've written can be tough, but the good thing is someone will write something that's even more gossip worthy or twistable and people will forget all about what they were focusing on before. Hang in there!!!

I am a Clay fan. I love Carmen.
We know how words can be edited to come across in a way they were not meant.
It is great that she and Clay are close. I hope they keep in touch often because good friends are to be cherished.
Carmen needs to understand that not all people who post ugly comments about her are Clay fans.
There are many who want to make us look bad.
You know who you are Carmen. Clay knows who you are.
Don't worry about those who know nothing.
Just keep on being sincere and a good friend to Clay.
I know he must appreciate you.

I am sorry that this happened to Carmen but I would like to suggest that the next time she talks to her "brother" Clay Aiken, she might ask him why he continues to allow his Claymates to run down anyone that they think is damaging their "boyfriends" reputation. The Claymates quickly judge anyone, yet Clay Aiken remains silent, why is that???

Thank you so much for this article. I hope this one gets as much publicity as the one which was taken so grossly out of context. Carmen is a sweetheart and I adore her. Keep your head high girl, you are incredible.

Kassa, exactly what is Clay supposed to do about what others say? He has said in his own blog that he doesn't need defending, that he's fine, yet the defense goes into hyperdrive with some. That is not his responsiblity. He has millions of fans...if he has already said it himself to basically back off and they don't, what's he to do? Find each person and tell them himself? Not his responsibility beyond what he can say in a public way.

People need to be accountable on their own as it's their own statements and actions that result in poor reception from others.

Please leave Clay out of both sides.

Peace!

Clay has some crazy fans but have you heard some of the things John Mayer's fans do? Every singer has crazy fans. Clay has a lot of nice fans as well.

Glad that the D-News wrote this artticle. I was pretty surprised at the outrage. When I read her article the other day, nothing controversial even crossed my mind, and then I read the comments and was really amazed at how people interpreted it. I've always thought Carmen had amazing talent, even when she was just a young girl on American Idol, but I've read her book and have her new CD and I just think the world of her.

Great article! Couldn't have said it better myself. Carmen is extremely talented and deserves nothing but the best. She's so beautiful and I love her voice. I had no idea that she was such a talented writer too. To all the haters, get off the computer and get outside every once in a while. It'll be good for ya.

Scott, I think that's pretty cool of you to write this article. I think you hit the nail right on the head. I have really liked reading Carmen's articles and I've even posted on here before how it's cool to hear interesting stories from an insiders perspective. I'm sure what we see on TV isn't exactly how it seems. Thanks for this article and thanks for having Carmen write her article. I hope there are many more to come.

Carmen's column smacked of bitterness as if she had been unfairly treated. Everybody could see that in what she wrote. She was whining. Countless comments were made that showed a majority of readers got that out of it.

Carmen, you disappointed me. Good luck to you, but don't count me as a fan. You have too much growing up to do before you can earn my respect again.

I love when a media outlet slams another media outlet for publishing information that isn't accurate or is sensationalized, because the D-News would never stoop to such low levels to sell advertising/newspapers.

Carmen gave a good interview, and every outlet could take and write a different headline and give a different first impression just like happens with all newsstories.

... seem to be whining in her column. It seems like she's still a little bitter. I could see why TMZ jumped to that conclusion from the tone of her article.

I am a Clay fan and understood what Carmen was saying. It annoys me when I see posts that say it can't be Clay fans saying such rude things--not true, he has a group of nasty fans and to continually deny they exist doesn't help.

Sorry, Carmen, that you were a victim of these hateful crusaders. I feel badly for Clay, he is a good guy and has some great fans and then there are the others who call themselves fans but certainly don't follow his lead on how to treat others.

I am a huge Clay fan since season 2 and I did read Carmen's article and thought nothing about it other than that Clay can be quite a perfectionist.

Then I read the comments that came after that. I thought many of them went way overboard. Sure many of them came from Clay fans and many came from non-Clay fans.

However, please know that there are many, many Clay fans like me who didn't read anything negative into Carmen's article and am aware of the friendship that exists between Carmen and Clay.

So please don't be so quick to lump all Clay fans together and even more ridiculous is the comment that accuses Clay about not keeping a tighter grip or lid on his fans. I totally agree with Jay's response!

I think Scott did a great thing in writing the article. It is nice to know who your friends are. The comment board is interesting in that people feel free to say anything-most of which they would never say to you face to face. Many of the comments are very mean-spirited and you have to consider the source! What do these comment boards even accomplish?? What good comes out of it??

Chances are none of the nasty comments were made by Clay fans. There is an organized group of people who would like nothing better than to see Clay lose his career. One of the things these haters do is to go around posing as Clay fans.

Carmen,

Where exactly were these concerts that you and Clay did together? The only concerts other than the AI Tour, was one where he pulled you out of the audience to sing a song with him.

I do believe you and Clay are friends, he is a nioe guy. Just wish his "friends" wouldn't use his name to get attention for themselves.

Clay fans had nothing to do with the TMZ's take on the article. They formed their own impression.

I saw no problem with Carmen's original comment.

Clay has told the fans not to defend him but he can't control what they do all the time. Clay has some wacky fans but he also has some wonderful fans.